I'm Sorry I Became Kira
by Imagined-Waif
Summary: If you had the chance, would you take it? Would you play with a world you're used to being just a story? Or would you "do the right thing"? I don't know if I did the right thing, but I'm human. I'm weak to my desires.
1. Chapter 1

I don't really know why I decided to run after that stray dog that ran in front of a semi, but I don't regret shielding it with my body, even if it hurt like hell. The very last thing I remember before blacking out was that dog I saved limping only a bit as it came over to whine and lick at my cheek. After that, I felt like pretty much everything went to nothingness. I have no idea how long I just kind of thought about everything that happened, but after a while, I felt like I was regaining consciousness. The first thing I felt was an aching sensation in my ribcage, but it wasn't as intense as when I had blacked out.

While my muscles started twitching with the urge to move, I didn't feel like anything was broken or cut, which was strange. So, I ended up opening my eyes and found myself staring up at a ceiling I wasn't familiar with. It didn't even look like a hospital ceiling. Of course, this made my thoughts go to the "Where the hell am I?" kind of panicky state. Looking around revealed a ton of books on shelves around over half of the room and a desk with a computer and a small T.V. sitting on it. Sitting up took some groaning and grunting from the dull aching in my ribs, but once I did, I looked down at the dark blue blanket still tangled around my lower half. Rubbing at my eyes and face, I took another confused look around the room as I suddenly got the feeling it was familiar somehow. Also, the acne I know was on my face seems to have disappeared.

"The hell?"

My voice sounded strange. I knew it was mine, but at the same time it seemed like it wasn't. Not to mention that the language that came out was not English, the only language I could recall speaking before the accident. Did I have amnesia or something from it? I remember some things, but others are more vague hunches than really knowing. Something tells me this room is mine, but I don't really remember ever having a room this big before.

"Light, you're going to be late for school!" Someone called in what I assumed was the same language I had spoken earlier, knocking on the door.

Light had to be me. No, I know it's me. My name was different before though, wasn't it? Well, either way, I decided I'd better get up and just go with whatever's happening. It seemed things were just clicking to place in my mind all by themselves anyway.

Once I found the bathroom, I froze up and stared wide-eyed at my reflection. This perfect-skinned auburn haired girl in the mirror was not what I remembered, but my brain seemed to be registering it as my face for some reason. After a minute of staring and making sure it was indeed me, I reminded myself that I was going to be late and started getting ready. I pulled the shoulder-length hair into a clip in the back somewhat messily, letting my fringe naturally hang over my forehead in a side-swept fashion. Then I went back to the room I had woken up in and, as if by instinct, I found the uniform and awkwardly pulled it on. It seems my chest is still average, not being huge but not being flat either, and my body seems to be about as thin or maybe even thinner than I remember. After I had the uniform on, I felt uncomfortable with the skirt and rifled through some drawers until I found a pair of black shorts to wear under it. The last thing I did was grab my school bag before heading downstairs.

When I saw who was sitting at the table in the kitchen/living room area, I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Light, do you want breakfast?" The middle-aged woman asked me with a smile when they noticed me standing in the doorway.

I couldn't respond, my mouth refusing to work even if I could think of what to say.

"Huh? Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." The girl that looked to be about middle-school age said when she saw me.

"I-I-I'm fine! I'm leaving!" I finally got my body to move and slipped on my shoes before quickly leaving the house. "There is absolutely no way."

There is no way that I'm where I think I am. Or who I think I am. How do you go from getting hit by a semi to more or less taking over the body of a gender-bent mass murderer?! This is ridiculous! There's no way that was Sayu and Mrs Yagami. Absolutely no way!

I somehow got to school and sat in the right seat on instinct. I don't really know how to explain how I know things other than just saying it's by instinct. Like when I was called on and answered perfectly. Well, I guess I should know how to read english, but translating it back into Japanese when I don't recall ever learning it was strange. The entire ordeal just gets more confusing the more I think about it. So, sitting and staring out the window while brooding over it really doesn't help.

It did help me see a black book of some kind fall from the sky though. If the fact I knew this world as an anime that I adored for a while meant anything, it meant that I was caught between being excited and terrified that this had to be the day I became a protagonist. Or antagonist, depending on which way you view the story. But that isn't important. The fact that I went directly to where I saw it fall and picked up the damn book is what's important. Staring at the words "Death Note" on the cover as my thoughts swirled around two options, I knew I had to make a decision.

If I take it and don't use it, then I could burn it or something so Ryuk can't just give it to someone else. If I don't take it, someone worse than Light was might pick it up. But if I just burn it, no one will die.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, I guess it took less deliberation than I thought it would. I took it and decided I would find out what I want to do with it later after cram school. I did go home and watch the news in my room and tested it on that guy that was holding a school hostage and had to wonder if it was just a coincidence that he really died. Maybe this one really was a joke in this timeline and even if it's not, maybe I should throw it out anyway. However, ending up at the same store and looking at a gaming magazine while I watched a commotion outside the window, I realized that I had two options. Do nothing and let those bikers take advantage of the woman, or write down the guy's name that I overheard. Of course, I ended up writing down the name before I even realized I had made a decision. The guy's bike got hit by a truck in the same way I remembered it originally happening when he tried to chase after the fleeing woman. I felt my body tense up at seeing the first death that's happened in front of me, but other than that, my reaction was strange. Don't people usually cry or even feel sick when they see something like that? Why do I feel like I'm just watching it on the screen in the anime? Like it doesn't matter. Well, I guess it doesn't anyway, does it?

"Well, I never really believed in Heaven and Hell anyway." I muttered to myself, putting the book back in my bag and putting the magazine back on the rack.

It was a bit later that I got home and just went straight to my room to lock myself in there after giving my mother the test results and getting praised for them again. I spent a good while mentally arguing with myself about being right and wrong. I even pointed out that if I had to actually kill someone with my own hands I wouldn't do it, so I shouldn't use this just because it's indirect. Unfortunately, the part of me that agreed with what Light was doing kicked in and I found myself doing the same thing as him, just with a little different method. Writing every murderer and rapist's name I could find in the book during all my free time. I didn't bother with petty theft or anything minor like that.

Adjusting to my new life wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be. I even used those mysterious instincts of mine to build that false bottom trap for the top drawer of my desk and put it in place ahead of time. I just didn't leave the key in the lock. I felt like that might be too obvious and careless to really make someone think that fake diary is all I'm hiding. And so, after some long days of staying up late to write criminals' names, I finally came across a name I couldn't bring myself to write as I looked at the picture of the scarred black-haired man with red eyes.

Beyond Birthday. A character I always felt was unnecessary to kill if you know the details of his case. If he could see when they'd die and picked ones that would die soon anyway, I don't see the problem. Well, maybe they died because he decided to kill them though. Still, he had actually had some things in common with Light, from my understanding of it. He would've pulled off the perfect crime too, if it hadn't been for Naomi Misora. Oh, that's right. I might have to kill her later if things go the way Light had originally went. If I don't kill the FBI, I shouldn't have to kill her though, right?

I shook that thought off and continued writing down criminals' names. I had decided to include animal abusers and poachers in the criteria for which criminals I killed, so I had a bit more work now.

I paused in my work, suddenly realizing that I was making the same mistake Light did and decided to start writing times for the deaths, making at least one happen every hour of every day. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be thinking of it if I hadn't been a fan of the series before I ended up in it. I wrote up to a week's worth of timed deaths before I just started writing names without times again. I guess I should give them just a little bit of a lead. I did kind of want to meet L, after all. Even if he could be pretty creepy sometimes.

"You've taken quite a liking to it." A raspy voice spoke up behind me, making me fall off my chair as I turned to see the blue-skinned monster as lightning flashed and thunder rolled. "No reason to act surprised. I am the Shinigami Ryuk. That used to be my notebook." He informed me.

"Oh, right. I was expecting you." I said with a nod, getting up to sit back down on my chair.

"Oh?"

"It's an unconventional way, but I figured something that could kill so easy would be the possession of some kind of god of death or something." I stated with a shrug before crossing my arms and smirking. "I already know what I'm gonna do with it."

"That's interesting. I certainly wasn't expecting this. Several Death Notes have made their way into the human world in the past, but you're the first to have written this many names." He said, looking at the open notebook on my desk. "Look at how many people you've killed in only five days. Most are reluctant to write this much."

"I'm only the first in _this_ reality." I responded, looking down at the notebook with some disappointment as I added a mutter of, "I kind of wanted to meet him too."

"Hm? It seems you have some knowledge of things even I don't know." Ryuk said.

"…I guess I'm an esper." I responded, half-jokingly as I thought of one of my favourite video games that I probably won't be able to play here, then decided to get back on topic. "So, you're not gonna take my soul, are you?"

"Huh? What do you mean? Is that some fantasy you humans came up with? I'm not gonna do anything to you. The notebook becomes part of the human realm the very moment it touches the earth. In other words," He lifted a clawed finger to point at me. "The notebook is now yours."

"Huh." I looked down at the notebook.

"If you don't want it, just give it to someone else. But if you give it away, I'd have no choice but to erase your memories of the notebook."

"So, pretty much my only punishment for using it is that one rule that says I won't go to Heaven or Hell when I die?"

"Let's just say this; you will know the fear and pain only known to humans who've used the notebook. And when it's your time to die, it will fall on me to write your name in my Death Note. Be warned, any human who's used a Death Note can neither go to Heaven nor Hell for all eternity. That's all."

That line was supposed to be creepy and I'd say it did an excellent job of being just that. His laugh didn't help.

"Now you have something to look forward to after you die."

As I stared at him, there was a knock on my door.

"Light?" My mother's voice said as I stared at it.

"It'll be alright. Answer it." Ryuk said.

I put the Death Note in my desk drawer, then got up to open the door.

"What is it?" I asked her as I answered the door.

"I thought you'd like some apples. The neighbours brought them over for us." She told me, then looked past me into my dark room. "Why on earth is it so dark in your room? You'll ruin your eyesight."

I snickered, then waved a hand dismissively. "No, it's fine. I just had a bit of a headache so the light was extra harsh." I took the apples. "Thanks."

After closing the door and putting down the basket of apples on my desk, I looked at Ryuk with a raised eyebrow, since I should probably go along with the scene.

"That notebook you found belonged to me and since you're now using it, you're the only one that's able to see me. And of course, my voice can only be heard by you." He took an apple. "In other words, the Death Note is the bond between Light, the human, and Ryuk, the shinigami." He took a bite of the apple, then looked at it. "Yum."

He then began devouring all the apples.

"I hope you enjoy those, you greedy bastard." I grumbled, crossing my arms and waiting for him to finish. I kind of wanted one.

"Apples in the human world are worth the trip. What's the best way to describe these? Juicy?"

"I don't know, you ate them all." I replied bitterly, going back to sit down at my desk and pull out the Death Note again. "So, why'd you drop it anyway?"

"I did it because I was bored."

"Bored?"

"The truth is, shinigami haven't got much to do these days. Most of the time we're either taking naps or gambling. If you take the time to write names in your Death Note the others just laugh at you for working so hard. Even if you wrote the name of another shinigami it would be pointless because they wouldn't die. And since we live in the shinigami realm, it brings us no amusement to kill those in the human world either. So, I figured I'd have more fun if I came down here myself." He took the notebook from me to look through it. "Anyway, I'm surprised at how many names you've written. But I want to know why you only wrote the cause of death for that guy who was hit by the truck."

I adverted my gaze. "It's because it's faster to do it this way. I've already gone through almost all of the major criminals. I'm moving on to some of the lesser-known ones now."

"What's the point of doing that?"

"It's only a matter of time before people will realize that crime is actually being punished. That there is someone passing judgement on the wicked." I'm partially paraphrasing Light's words, but it's about the same deal just without the god complex.

"Why even bother? What are you trying to achieve by passing judgment on them? I mean, why do you care?"

"Because…I've been bored too." I said truthfully. "There's something about the Death Note itself that makes humans want to try it out at least once."

Unlike Light, I didn't have a rainy scene where I came to a decision. It kind of just happened without the melodrama. Maybe it's because I was still kind of detached from this world? I mean, it wasn't really my reality. It could just be a coma-induced dream, right? I don't know exactly why I was doing it, but I do know I've always held the opinion that a lot of the people in jail for life or waiting for their death sentence were wastes of space and money. Also, the passive campaigns to tell people what not to do don't really work, so fear might be the only way to keep them in check.

"My goal is just to get rid of the people who rot the world."

"But if you did that, you'd be the only bad person left." Ryuk pointed out.

I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face. It probably looked at least a little insane. "I know. I will be the last person to be judged for my crimes."

"You'll write your own name?"

"After enough time has passed that people believe the judgement has stopped because the criminals have stopped, I will gladly write my own name and atone for the method I used. Or perhaps before even that happens."

Ryuk just stared at me, so I turned to the window and pulled the curtains closed before going back to my desk to continue writing. The shinigami pretty much just loomed behind me and watched me write. It was a little unnerving, but I did my best to ignore him.

"I have a question." Ryuk spoke up after a while.

"Hm?"

"Why are you writing times for some and not the others?"

"So at least one death occurs every hour of every day, even if I don't use the notebook. I decided I'll do it every week. Then I can write whatever names I want without times when I do use it."

"You've already figured out you can put a time in the details of a death." He said, seeming fairly amused.

"I've figured out much more than that." I told him with a knowing smirk.


	3. Chapter 3

I continued with the usual routine of killing criminals when I wasn't at school for the next few days. I told Ryuk how my hiding place for the Death Note had worked and didn't answer when he asked me who I said had given me the idea. Saying Light did would be talking about myself here since he doesn't know about the original. I'm actually just a fake. Anyway, I found out I was pretty popular with how many times I had to turn down people's invitations. Ryuk complained about school and made it a little difficult to concentrate with his antics going on in the background. I also had to tell him that I wasn't going to talk to him in public. I had to help Sayu with her homework today. And by help, I mean I pretty much did it for her.

"Do you get it now?" I asked her tiredly, pointing to one of the last questions I helped her with.

"Um…" She stared at it in confusion.

I sighed and put a hand to my forehead. "What am I going to do with you?"

She gave me a sheepish smile, which I responded to with a snort and a lopsided smile before trying to explain to her one more time.

A couple more days and I found the Kira websites. I sighed as Ryuk looked over my shoulder at them.

"What? Aren't you happy about this?"

"No. I don't care about their opinions."

"You make it sound like there's someone you do want to notice."

"Do I?" I asked with a lop-sided smile that probably could be described as wistful as I turned on the T.V. sitting on my desk.

"We'd like to apologize for the interruption. As of now, we're bringing you a live worldwide broadcast of Interpol's ICPO." A reporter read from a paper. "We now take you live to the ICPO."

"Hm?" I tilted my head in curiosity as the screen changed to a black haired man with a nameplate reading "Lind L. Tailor" on it.

"Hm? What's this?" Ryuk seemed interested as well.

"I head up an international police task force which includes all member nations. I am Lind L. Tailor. Otherwise known as L." The man on the screen said.

"Buuuulllshiiiit." I mumbled, staring at the screen with a stupid giddy grin on my face as I got the Death Note ready.

"You don't believe him but you're writing his name?" Ryuk questioned me.

"He's a criminal who's on death row anyway." I shrugged.

"How do you know?"

I just continued staring quietly at the T.V. as my heartbeat started to get louder and faster with my excitement. After a long pause, the man finally spoke again.

"Criminals around the world are being murdered by a serial killer. I consider this crime to be the most atrocious act of murder in history. I will not rest until the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. Kira, I will hunt you down. I will find you."

"He's certain he'll catch you." Ryuk commented.

"He's also going to die and he knows it." I responded absently.

"Kira, I've got a pretty good idea what your motivation might be and I can guess what you hope to achieve. However, what you're doing right now is evil."

"I know." I whispered, feeling my smile twist with a slight insanity as I got my pen ready, my hand twitching as I waited for the right time. When he smiled, I quickly scratched down his name. It wasn't big like Light's had been, taking up half a page, but rather just like any other criminal I've killed. "This is about to get very interesting. Would you remember what I said about this guy being a criminal as we watch, Ryuk?"

"Huh?"

After waiting forty seconds, the man cried out in pain and grabbed his chest before his face hit the desk and he was probably dead.

"Come on out, L." I whispered, biting the end of the pen with anticipation as I watched the man being carried off the screen before it cut to the screen with a fancy "L" on it.

"Ah…I had to test this just in case, but I…I never thought it would actually happen." The scrambled voice sounded pretty surprised. "Kira, it seems you can kill people without having to be there in person. I wouldn't've believed it if I hadn't just witnessed it. Listen to me, Kira, if you did indeed kill Lind L. Tailor, the man that you just saw die on television, I should tell you that he was an inmate who's execution was scheduled for today. That was not me."

Ryuk started cackling like that was the funniest thing that's happened all week.

"The police arrested him in absolute secrecy, so you wouldn't've heard about him on T.V. or through the internet. It appears that even you don't have access to information about these types of criminals."

"You got him there, didn't you?" Ryuk said between cackles.

"But I assure you, L is real. I do exist. Now, try to kill me!"

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. "Nah. Don't wanna."

"What's wrong? Hurry up! Come on, right now! Kill me!"

I bit the pen as I closed the Death Note and began putting it away.

"You're not going to?"

"My purpose in killing Lind L. Tailor was to confirm to L that I existed. I have no need to kill him. He'll be chasing me now."

"You want to get caught?" Ryuk sounded confused now.

"No. I have a purpose in having L chase me."

"A purpose?"

"You'll see." I dismissed the question.

"Hey, you're not any regular human, are you?" Ryuk asked me suspiciously.

"I…don't know." I responded, turning my attention back to the taunting as that giddy, lop-sided smile of a near-insane person worked it's way back onto my face.

"Well, Kira, it seems that you can't kill me after all." L said.

"Didn't want to."

"So there are some people you can't kill. You've given me a useful hint. Let me return the favour. I'll tell you something that I think you'll find interesting."

"This broadcast is only in the Kanto region?" I replied, on the edge of my seat.

"Although this was announced as a world-wide broadcast, the truth is, we are only broadcasting in the Kanto region of Japan. I had planned to broadcast this message around the world until we found you, but it looks like that won't be necessary. I now know where you are."

Ryuk laughed. "This L guy is pretty good, but you predicted that and still did it."

"The police treated your first killing as an unrelated incident, but in actuality the first of your victims was a suspect in Shinjuku. Of all the criminals who've recently died of heart attacks, this one's crime was by far the least serious. Furthermore, his crime was only ever reported inside Japan. I used that information to deduce this much. You are in Japan and your first victim was little more than an experiment, which means that you haven't been killing for very long. We decided to broadcast in Kanto first because of its large population and luckily, we found you. To be completely honest with you, I never expected that things would go this well, but it won't be too long now before I will be able to sentence you to death."

"You're a little late for that." I felt my grin grow. "I've already done it for you."

"Naturally, I'm very interested to know how you're able to commit these murders without being present, but I don't mind waiting a little bit longer. You can answer all of my questions when I catch you. Let's meet again soon, Kira." And with that, the T.V. went to static.

I stared at it in silence for a moment before I burst out into a fit of laughter that sounded insane even to my own ears. It didn't take long for me to calm to just the lop-sided grin.

"L, I will hunt you down wherever you're hiding and I will…" I trailed into another fit of mad giggling before I just completed the dramatic line. "I am justice!"

And then I fell back into my giggling, even falling off my chair and wrapping my arms around my stomach while I kicked my legs. My eyes were watering and my chest hurt, but I couldn't stop until I was gasping for breath and felt like I might be sick.

"What's so funny?" Ryuk asked once I got up and picked up my chair, still giggling even with my head spinning.

"Nothing. Something happened that was just personally hilarious to me."

"What?"

There was a knock on my door. "Light? Is everything alright?"

"Y-Yeah, everything's…fine!" I called back to my mother as I tried to contain my leftover giggling.

"A-Alright…" She didn't sound convinced, but left anyway.

I sat back down in my chair and leaned back. "Well now, I guess I have some work to do before _that_ happens."


	4. Chapter 4

I finally got around to checking that thing Light kept a stash of dirty magazines in. Turns out I kept dating sims and other video games in about five or six of the boxes that were supposed to have books in them on that shelf. They were all for portable consoles which were also hidden there though. I guess that's one less thing I have to prepare. Still, that isn't the kind of stuff I should be thinking about when I'm helping Sayu with her homework again.

"I knew I could count on you, Light." She said.

"Why don't you try a few on your own?" I suggested.

"I guess I could…" She replied, then we were both distracted by the doorbell.

"Oh, sounds like Dad's home." She said, getting up. "He's home really early today!"

"Hey! Why don't you at least try the last problem by yourself?" I called after her as she headed for the door.

"I will, but maybe after dinner."

"Yeah, right." I muttered, rolling my eyes, then getting up to follow after her.

"Helping your sister with her homework. You sure are relaxed." Ryuk commented.

"I'm pretty sure they already think I'm acting weird, so I should probably try to fit their image of me." I responded off-handedly, then headed down the stairs to find my new father taking off his shoes. "Hey, glad you could join us for dinner. You hungry, Dad?"

"Yeah. It's been a long day." He replied.

We all sat down for dinner, and although I had gotten used to Sayu and Mom, Dad was kind of intimidating. Not to mention I had to watch what I said more so around him than the other two.

"So, Light, tell me, how're your studies going?" He spoke up and I tensed a little, earning a suspicious look.

"I-It's going fine, I guess." I responded, looking down at my food.

"Whatever. She's at the top of her class. My big sister's a genius." Sayu jumped in.

"That's my daughter. We're all proud of you, Light." Mom nodded approvingly.

"Is everything okay, Dad?" I asked, watching the creases between his eyebrows as he ate. It must be hard to know you might be killed at any moment just because you're investigating Kira. "You look tired."

"Yeah. I'm not able to say too much about it, but this case I'm working on now is really tough."

With that answer, I knew I had to go take a look at what was on his computer about the case. More instincts helped me pull that off.

"I see. Well, well, daddy's a policeman." Ryuk said as I was working on the computer. "And that must be the reason why you're so confident?"

"Nah. It's just a bonus. And it's easy for me to hack into Dad's computer. We're on a home network, so I can copy the files I need without leaving a trace. This way I can keep track of their investigation." I said as I guessed the password and got access to the files I wanted. Reading them, I sat back in my chair and sipped my hot chocolate. "Well, isn't that interesting. Looks like the police suspect a student."

Ryuk gave a raspy chuckle. "Even after all those times you set up. I guess that means you're in trouble."

"Nope. This is exactly what I wanted." I said, my lop-sided smile making it's way back onto my face. "Now I just stop writing them down whenever I have the time and just let it all happen at predetermined times."

And so I did. For two days I was at school while criminals were dying. As I was walking home with Ryuk following me, I couldn't help the giddy spring in my step.

"L must be suspecting someone with connections to the police by now." I told the shinigami.

"Oh? Is this part of what you wanted?"

"It is."

"There's one thing I don't get. Showing them you have connections to the police makes it easier for them to find you than when they just suspected you were a student."

"Ah, but the only way to make an empire fall is from within." I told the shinigami giddily.

"What does that mean?"

"You still don't understand human beings. In this world there are very few people who trust each other. Honestly, I don't even think I should be disclosing any details, even to you. But, it's not different for the police. What's important is that L and the investigators don't trust each other at all. Could you really trust someone you've never seen the face of? When L discovers that I'm somehow getting confidential information, he'll be obligated to start investigating the police department to find the source of the leak. When that happens, it'll only be a matter of time before the police start resenting L. It seems like they're working together to try and catch me, but in reality, they will be investigating each other instead. However, the police will never find L."

"Then why'd you set it up?"

I stopped and spun around to grin at the shinigami. "Because I have to take the steps necessary to come into a position to meet the real deal. This is only the beginning, Ryuk."

"Why are you even looking for him?"

"Why?" I tilted my head, like a confused dog. "I need a reason?"

Ryuk just stared at me, but then I got distracted by a whining noise. I turned to see a cardboard box with a black puppy curling up in it and looking my way. Unable to resist, I walked over to crouch down and scratch behind his ears. The writing on the outside of the box read, "Please take care of Kuro."

"This isn't how you should treat a puppy." I grumbled, glaring at the writing before picking up the little guy and snuggling him. "I wish there was a dog at home." I actually felt off being in a house without any pets. In my old life, I can't remember a time there wasn't a dog or a cat around.

"Don't you have cram school?" Ryuk asked with obvious boredom.

"Oh, right." I sighed, putting the puppy back and gently patting his head. "I'll bring you some food later, okay?"

The puppy yipped before I stood up and continued on my way to the stupid cram school.


	5. Chapter 5

After yet another boring extra lesson, I was walking home when Ryuk started talking to me.

"Light, you got a second?"

"What do you want?" I muttered.

"First of all, I don't have anything against you. I actually think the notebook couldn't've been picked up by a better person."

Because I'm not the original Light and you never met him.

"I'm here 'cause I have to stick around 'till the Death Note is finished. Or, I see you die. Whichever comes first. But, make no mistake, Light. I'm not on your side or L's side."

"I know."

"You'll never hear me say anything about whether what you're doing is right or wrong. I'm not here to support you or give you my opinion. I'm just a spectator. But as your roommate, I might have a few things to say now and then."

"My stalker is bugging you, huh?" I responded dully, recognizing this speech.

"Oh, you already know? I only brought it up because personally, it's starting to creep me out."

I decided to ignore him and continued walking toward the alley I found Kuro in earlier. The puppy was curled up and shivering, but I had stopped by a convenience store on the way and picked up a blanket and some things I figured a dog could eat. Crouching down beside the box, I shushed the whining dog and started to dig in my bag.

"Alright, as promised, here's some food." I told the puppy, setting down the meat.

The thing must've been starving since he devoured it while I was getting out the blanket. I put it in the box and Kuro sniffed at it, but didn't reject it. Then, I picked up the dog to cuddle him to my chest again.

"Sorry you had to start out life like this. I'll see what I can do. Hopefully it won't take me too long." I set the puppy back in the box and more or less tucked him between the folded blanket. "Now, I have to go home. I hope this helps. Be good, Kuro." With one last gentle pat on the head, I reluctantly stood up to leave the dog.

I turned just in time to see someone step back behind a wall the way I had come. Obviously it was my FBI stalker. I decided to ignore him and Ryuk's complaining as I turned to leave the alley from the other end. After that, I went straight home and closed my curtains as soon as I got to my room. As I looked out the window at the guy lurking outside my house, Ryuk decided to bring it up.

"Light, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. What makes a shinigami and a human who has a Death Note different? Well, there are two things. And why do shinigami have to write the names of humans in their Death Notes? You got any ideas?"

"So their lifespan doesn't run out. But it doesn't work like that for humans."

"Are you sure you've never met a shinigami before?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nope." I waved a hand. "Anyway, the second difference is the eyes, and I don't need them. I'm not going to kill my stalker."

"How do you know this stuff?"

"I don't disclose that information to things trying to con me out of half my lifespan." I stated, turning back to my desk and more or less ending the conversation as the shinigami quieted down.


	6. Chapter 6

I went about my regular routine, going to school, taking care of Kuro, going to cram school, then going home and trying to subtly suggest getting a family pet to my mother when I wasn't preparing deaths. She didn't understand why I would want one all of a sudden, but once she mentioned Dad being sort of against the idea, I decided to go through my cellphone to ask people if they could take care of a puppy. After a while, I finally found one and arranged to meet up with them to show them where Kuro was. Before I left, I decided to make a prisoner write the first suicide note with the same message to L as Light had. It probably wasn't exactly the same as the original, but all that really matters is that the message isn't lost. I didn't bother checking to make sure it worked, I knew that one, the one that drew the pentagram, and the one that escaped to the staff bathroom had all succeeded.

I knew the guy was still tailing me when I met up with the girl I'd found to take Kuro.

"Hey, Ayumi." I said as I approached the friendly girl. She seemed nice enough. "Are you sure you can take him?"

"Yeah. I checked with my parents and they said it was fine." She replied with a smile. "So, where is the little guy?"

"Oh right, come on, I'll show you where his horrible owner left him." I said, motioning for her to follow me to that alley. On the way, we talked casually. The kind of stuff that was boring to me, but I indulged because she was helping me out.

Once we were there, Kuro barked happily and wagged his tail.

"Aw, how cute is he?!" Ayumi squealed, picking him up and hugging him. "I'll take good care of you, Kuro."

"Thanks. My parents seem pretty sure we shouldn't have a pet, so knowing he's not going to freeze out here really helps." I smiled as Kuro seemed to take a liking to her.

"Well, thanks for introducing us!" She told me, giggling as the dog licked her cheek. "I'll make sure he gets lots of love and food." She assured me, then we exchanged a quick goodbye as she decided she better take him home now.

I sighed after she turned the corner. "I hope he has a happy life there. I'm gonna miss the little guy just a bit." After staring sadly at the now empty cardboard box, I stretched my arms above my head. "Well, what should I do with the rest of my day off then?"

I decided to spend my day in the public library, looking for an interesting book or some manga to read. I ended up picking up a fiction book I recognized from my old life that I've never actually gotten the chance to read. What I had heard about the book being much darker than that children's movie they made about it turned out to be true. Pleasingly so.

It was getting dark by the time I actually headed home, but I felt pretty safe at the moment. Raye Penber shouldn't suspect me, so he and Naomi can maybe live peacefully. Away from the Kira case this time. I'm messing with certain steps, but hopefully I end up on the same path. For now, no innocents have to die. I know they think I killed Lind L. Tailor because he was claiming to be L, but really it was because he was a criminal anyway and I kind of wanted to let L know that I existed. Either way, I've got up to two weeks worth of criminals' names written and I don't plan on killing anyone who isn't a criminal. Meaning that I'm going to leave the FBI alone.


	7. Chapter 7

After going home that day, I decided to make another inmate write the second suicide note. After that, I continued my usual routine until I started getting worried. I realized the police and L would still be cooperating unless I did something and found out the FBI agents and the one heading the investigation's names. I did the same thing Light did, making the supervisor send all the agents the same file and then making the agents die after receiving it, but I never talked to Raye Penber directly. I also made sure to write Naomi Misora's name and the cause of her death to be suicide after finding out about Raye. It wasn't exactly believable, but at least I could get some sleep now. Of course, I also made an inmate write the third and final suicide note with the message for L.

It was only a matter of time before Dad called a family meeting and we all sat down at the table.

"Um, so, what's with the family meeting, Dad?" Sayu asked curiously as she leaned her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her palms.

"I figured you were going to find out sooner or later, so I might as well tell you now." He spoke up while looking down at the glass in front of him. "I don't want you to be alarmed. I'm sure you've heard of this Kira investigation. Well, I'm currently in charge of it." He said quickly.

Sayu sat up straight. "What? Are you serious? That's totally awesome Dad! You're the best cop ever!"

"That's not quite the point I'm trying to make."

"Oh?"

"You see, the truth is, the FBI sent twelve of their agents to Japan to assist us in finding Kira and all of them died yesterday."

"Does that mean they were all killed by Kira?" I asked, like I didn't know.

"What?" Sayu gasped.

"What I'm saying is that there's a chance that Kira will actually try to kill anyone who comes after him. These crimes are more ruthless and frightening than anything we've seen. Many detectives have already quit." Dad said.

Sayu leaned on the table. "Dad! You should quit too! I don't want you to die! What if he gets you?"

"That's right. Your life is so much more important than some job." Mom protested as well.

"I can't. I could never forgive myself if I walked away from this. I will not sit back and let evil triumph."

"But Dad you-"

"Please, dear."

"I think it's honourable of you, Dad." I said, getting up and going over to the cupboard. "And if anything happens to you, I will find Kira and make sure he gets executed." I looked back over my shoulder seriously before I took the cookies and left to return to my room.

I was serious though. I wouldn't forgive myself if I stray from my principles any more than I already have just so I stayed on the path I wanted. I really shouldn't have to kill any more innocents now.

"Damn." I muttered and shoved a cookie in my mouth.

I mentally reviewed everything I've done differently than Light up until now and wondered if I was going to be just as corrupted as him by the end of this. Not that I would let it get to that point. I am fully prepared to write my name and "dies peacefully in sleep" as soon as I start getting thoughts of becoming the god of a new world. I'm not a god. I'm a human. An unusual kind of reincarnated gender-bent version of the original Light Yagami with knowledge of how the plot originally went, but a human no less.


	8. Chapter 8

After preparing a long list of criminals to die over the next while, I started making a timeline and noted that unlike Light's experiments, I had tried some of my own versions of them. As long as what I wrote was plausible, it'd work. As I was doing that, I came to the realization that just one thing could possibly result in my game over. However, I wasn't worried, since I had already taken care of Naomi, so anything she might have found even without me meeting up with Raye directly would never come up.

Laying on my bed and staring at the ceiling as I got lost in thought, Ryuk stood and looked down at me.

"You already finished studying?"

"I guess." I responded absently as I wondered if this timeline was synced up to the original. Maybe this one doesn't really exist in the first place. It's just a dream. Or something.

Shortly after, I decided to get up and go downstairs for something to drink.

"What? Does it have to be now?" Sayu was whining when I got to the living room.

"Your father's been pulling overnighters with no change of clothes, so you're going to bring these to him." Mom responded.

"But Moooom, I totally promised my friends that I'd go out with them today." Sayu whined, then they both noticed me.

"I'll go." I offered.

"Thanks, Light. I owe you one next time." Sayu grinned and bit the chip she was holding.

"Then we get to watch a movie _without_ Hideki Ryuuga tonight, huh?" I grinned mischievously as her face fell and I took the bag from my mother.

"Fine." She gave an exaggerated sigh as I started heading back to my room to get ready.

"So, I guess this'll give you a chance to spy on the police." Ryuk said.

"Nah, I don't need to. Besides, I won't go further than the reception desk." I stated, checking my wallet to make sure the page of the Death Note I keep hidden in there was still in place.

"Oh, you planning to kill someone?" Ryuk asked curiously.

"No, but I make sure it's always here just in case." I replied, shoving the wallet in the back pocket of my skinny jeans and then grabbing my jacket to pull over my hoodie before heading out.

I called Dad's cellphone on the way, but I pretty much expected no answer. As I entered the police station, I noted the absence of the black haired woman. I walked up to the counter and held up the bag as I put on a smile toward the two men.

"Hi, I'm detective Suichiro Yagami's daughter, Light Yagami." I said, putting the bag on the counter. "I brought my father a change of clothes. Do you know if he's around?"

"He isn't here right now."

"Oh, then can I leave them here?" I asked as the man brightened up.

"Sure. I haven't seen you in a while, Light."

"Um…Sorry, I, uh," I responded awkwardly.

"What? You don't remember?" He took the bag. "You helped solve the insurance fraud murder investigation. Sometime last year. But hey, no one remembers the receptionist, do they?"

"I'm sorry, I'm terrible with faces." I said with a polite smile, picking up the pen on the counter and going to sign the form I needed to. "I just need to sign this form, right?"

"So, Light, does this mean you're going to help us with the Kira investigation, too?"

"Sure, if all goes well, maybe I'll find Kira before L does." I said lightly, resisting my urge to laugh at the inside joke. "Anyway, I should get going now. Bye." I said with a small wave and a polite smile.

"See you later, Light." He responded as I walked out.

"You're getting pretty boring, Light." Ryuk said as I was walking home.

"Am I? Perhaps that's part of the curse." I responded absently.

"Curse?"

"I told you, I don't disclose that kind of information."

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"Hm…I think I'll go to the library again and read some manga, then go home and do some work with a certain notebook."


	9. Chapter 9

It was a while later that I had come home with a bag of snacks and sweets since this family was pretty lacking in unhealthy foods other than potato chips. However, when I walked in, I immediately felt like there was something off, but did my best not to act oddly. I took my sweets up to my room and noticed the mechanical pencil lead I had in the hinge was broken, but the paper was still in place. Not to mention the handle was all the way up instead of at a downward angle. I just opened the door, set down the bag, and sighed as I started digging through it to grab a chocolate bar to munch on as I sat down on my bed and absently stared at the door. All while ignoring the bored shinigami who was trying to get my attention.

After eating the chocolate bar and throwing out the wrapper, I started rifling through my bag in an act I had planned while I was eating the chocolate bar. After sighing with disappointment, I hid the bag under my desk and went to my closet to change out of my school uniform and into some actual pants and a hoodie before grabbing my jacket and leaving my closet. I dug in my jacket pocket to pull out my wallet and start counting the money I had in there. Shoving it back in, I left my room, only putting the paper back how I had had it in my door, then proceeded to leave the house again.

Once I was off my street, I checked my clothes, but like I expected, there were no bugs on them. Ryuk was now waving his arms and legs in an attempt to get me to talk to him.

"Someone was in my room today. There's wire taps and probably surveillance cameras hidden in my house." I told him.

"Really? But that piece of paper was still in your door wasn't it?"

"The paper was the obvious thing. If it was my mom or sister, they probably wouldn't've put it back. Besides, the handle of my door wasn't at an angle. And the mechanical pencil lead I had on the hinge was broken, so I know someone was in my room and they went through the effort of attempting to hide it."

"Now that you mention it…" Ryuk said thoughtfully.

I entered a store and went straight for the video game section. Trying to remember which ones I already had, I picked a kind of interesting looking one up and headed for the checkout counter.

"What's this all about? Are you buying something that'll help you figure this mess out?"

I ignored the shinigami as I paid for the thing and left the store. As I was walking, I tucked the video game into my jacket to hide it as I held it under my arm.

"By the way Ryuk, what about your apples?" I brought up the issue that I would use to manipulate the shinigami.

"Apples?" He gasped as he realized what I meant. "That's right! Surveillance cameras! Once the apple's in my mouth no one can see it, but while I'm holding it it looks like it's floating."

"I thought so." I replied. "You know shinigami can't die, so I guess it won't kill you to stop eating apples for a while."

"Don't you think that's a bit much?! Come on!" Ryuk complained. "I never told you this, but apples are to me what cigarettes and alcohol are to humans. Do you see what I'm saying? I even get withdrawal symptoms!"

"Oh yeah? Well, the only way you can continue eating apples is if you find a blind spot. Otherwise, my hint to L about shinigami loving apples will be made obvious if they start floating and disappearing in my house. You know what that means, right? You have to find out where all the cameras are hidden." I stopped in front of my house, then continued again. "Alright, let's go."

"Yeah! A camera search!" Ryuk flew into the house as I went to open the door.

When I got to my room, I retrieved my game console from it's hiding place and put in my new game. I threw myself down on my bed, laying on my stomach as I started playing one of my guilty pleasure genre games. It was a dating sim. Or an otome game. Whatever you want to call it, it's still freaking embarrassing to play. Even when I'm by myself and without cameras watching me.

"I found a camera in the air conditioner!" Ryuk called after a while.

"Dang, Ryouta's totally going to have the hardest flags." I muttered, sitting up to sit criss-cross as I continued reading the mushy crap on the screen.

After about an hour, I was getting frustrated with the game.

"The description was so misleading." I sighed, turning it off and getting up to go put the game into my hiding spot on the bookshelf. "Next time I'm getting an RPG. Screw these things." I huffed as I put the book cover back in place.

"Hey, Light!" Sayu called from downstairs. "Come on! Dinner's ready!"

I went and sat down to eat, but when I saw what had Sayu so interested in the T.V. I started choking and had to take a drink of water.

"Hideki Ryuuga. I swear he's perfect!" Sayu gushed.

"Seriously Sayu? That guy again?" I whined. "Why can't you just watch anime or something?"

"You only say that because he's a drama star and doesn't do as many romcoms!" She responded.

"Girls, just eat your dinner." Mom said tiredly.

"Yeah, in a minute." Sayu replied, looking back at the T.V. "Huh? What's this? ICPO?" Sayu said suddenly. "They're saying that in response to the Kira murders, Interpol has decided to dispatch a force of 1500 investigators to Japan. The investigators were drawn from the law enforcement agencies of its member nations." She read. "1500 investigators? Woah."

I set down my utensils, looking over at the T.V. in thought before I decided to do something risky. I readjusted myself into a crouch on the chair and smiled.

"The ICPO sure is stupid."

"Huh?" Sayu looked at me in confusion.

"There's no point in telling everyone that. They should probably keep the investigators they're sending here a secret. Even the FBI agents that were investigating in secret were killed. I wouldn't be surprised if Kira sees through that ploy there."

"Light, why are you sitting like that?" Sayu asked suddenly, changing the subject.

"Hm? Oh, I don't know. Just felt like it." I shrugged, then got up to put my plate in the sink and went over to the cupboard to grab the bag of chips I had prepared. "Thanks for dinner, Mom."

"Huh? You're eating a bag of chips? You just had dinner." Sayu said in surprise. "You're going to get fat if you keep that up."

I laughed and also started making myself some hot chocolate. "It's for later while I'm studying."

I got back to my room and found an exhausted Ryuk laying on my bed as I walked over to my desk.

"I think that's it Light. I found every camera in the house. I guess shinigami get tired when they work hard." He said as I sat down and opened some of my books. "Now, let me explain where they all are. It's a little bit complicated, so listen up. There's nothing I hate more than explaining something twice."

"Alright, time for me to start studying." I said, pulling up my right sleeve to below my elbow.

"There sure are a lot of cameras in this room. I counted sixty-four in total. I guess whoever put them here expected you to at least find some of them."

That's kind of creepy.

"What I wanna know is how am I gonna be able to eat apples." Ryuk said.

You're not going to. Not in this house, at least.

"Oh, yeah, I guess you can't talk in here." He said when I kept my mouth shut and my eyes on my paper. "But we better discuss this outside tomorrow."

I glared at the math problems on the page, then grabbed the chip bag to open and set everything up. So, I was doing math problems with my right hand and somehow secretly writing names with my left when I was grabbing chips. It was a bit difficult to ignore the shinigami doing handstands, but I kind of missed out on being all dramatic about studying and eating potato chips. Still, once I had finished the chips, it was a little hard to throw away that damn expensive tiny T.V. with the bag. After that was thrown out, my instinctual intelligence started failing me and I started to get frustrated with the math. I probably shouldn't've let it get to the point I snapped and swiped everything math-related off my desk at midnight in a fit of rage.

"God dammit! I hate math!" I yelled, my head pounding as I stared down at the papers and calculator by my feet. Once I calmed down, I sighed and picked them up. "I think I need to stop for tonight."

After putting that stuff away and changing into an oversized plain white t-shirt to sleep in, I went and grabbed an RPG and laid down on my bed as I started playing it. It was probably two in the morning when I finally stopped that and was actually able to sleep.

"Light, are you up yet?" Mom's voice startled me awake and I fell off my bed onto my head, which had been hanging off the side, and then flipped over to sit up on the floor and hold my throbbing head.

"Y-Yeah! I'm up!" I called, rubbing the forming bump. "Ow…"

"Today's garbage day, so if you've got any bring it down with you, okay?" She called.

"What a pain." I muttered as I grabbed my jeans from the floor, pulled them on, and then grabbed the garbage can before going downstairs.

"What're you talking about? You usually say "There's no need to remind me, Mom."." She responded as I dumped my can's contents into the bag she was holding.

"Yeah, yeah." I said, going back to my room.

I cringed at the sunlight and pulled the curtains closed before I stretched and yawned.

"Well, I can't say for sure whether you're extremely generous or just a spoiled brat, but didn't that mini LCD T.V. cost you four-hundred bucks?" Ryuk asked.

I twitched while holding a bent arm over my head in a stretch, cringing before bringing it down to rub my eyes.

"Tired." I mumbled, walking over to my desk and sitting down before putting my forehead down to the cool wood.


	10. Chapter 10

After two days of neglecting my hygiene, my mother brought up the fact I should take a bath. So, I reluctantly ended up sitting in the bathtub, uncomfortable as hell, and feeling a quite obvious embarrassed blush on my face as I curled up in one corner. It's hard to forget about the cameras and since I'm female, I can't help but feel vulnerable when I was naked. Not that I really liked water in my previous life either. I was nice to Ryuk though, going out and buying him apples every day. That was partially because his handstands could get pretty hard not to laugh at. I also went out to write down names I remembered on the page I had in my wallet, or I pretended to study while watching T.V. as well.

"Hate water." I muttered, shuddering when I left the bathroom and started wandering around the house.

I found out I was home alone and I happened to look into an office and spotted something interesting in the corner. Sitting there all dusty and unused was a portable piano. A giddy feeling bubbled up as I got the urge to play some of the only songs I knew. I pulled it out, dusted it off, and plugged it in. I grinned when it turned on, then I grabbed a chair and stretched my arms and fingers before gingerly hovering over the keys as I took a moment to pull up the mental sheet music. It was a lot easier to do this time. Probably because I'm supposed to be a genius. I decided to start with "Love-Lost Elegy" and ended up singing along too. I'm not the greatest singer, and I only knew English lyrics for this song, and there were a few mistakes due to my piano skills being rusty that were ignored, but it was fun anyway. Once I finished, I paused, catching my breath and thinking before the smile faded from my face and I took one last deep breath as I looked down at the keys. I started playing "Kagerou Days" and singing in Japanese, closing my eyes and picturing the video. Those two songs probably don't exist yet in this timeline, but I only know those well enough to hear them again in the only way that was possible right now. Once I finished, I let out a breath, closing my eyes and smiling sadly.

"I haven't heard those songs for a while. I missed them." I murmured nostalgically, then heard the front door open and remembered where I was and who would've seen that. "Aw, crap!" I felt my face flush, then quickly started putting away the electric piano.

After that was back where I had found it, I dashed back to my room and sat down at my desk, breathing a little heavily as I covered my face with my hands. Not only did I embarrass myself by singing those songs, I just had to sing "Kagerou Days", which was probably kind of suspicious since the lyrics are kind of…Well, I guess there's nothing I can do about it now.

I managed to recover and spent the rest of the time I was being watched acting rather normally and mostly just playing video games. Until the day Ryuk finally spoke up about the absent cameras.

"Hey, Light, I just checked and all the cameras have been removed." He said from where he was hanging on the ceiling. "All of them. Every single one. Hello? Are you listening to me?"

I set down my game and got up from my chair to start heading downstairs.

"Hey, Light!" Ryuk followed me, but I just pointed to my ear. "Oh, good point. I still don't know if they've removed all the wire taps from the house."

I went into the kitchen and got an apple from the basket. I went back to my room, then tossed the fruit over my shoulder to the shinigami, who started devouring it as I sat back down at my desk and picked up my video game again. I'm just getting closer and closer to meeting him. Only a little longer now.


	11. Chapter 11

"Light, hurry up. You don't want to be late." Mom said as I pulled on my jacket and slipped on my shoes. Then she and Sayu stood by the door as I walked to the gate in front of our house. "Do your best!"

"I know you don't need it, but good luck!"

"I really don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this." I said, turning to look at them as the gate closed behind me. "It's too early in the morning too."

They just stared at me, so I decided to get away while I could. While I sat on the train, Ryuk loomed over me.

"I'm relieved. We don't have to deal with wire taps in the house anymore." He said.

Of course, I didn't respond. When I got there, the guy at the gate said the exam would be starting in ten minutes and I might be late with my leisurely pace, but I just told him I prefer not to wait. Ryuk called me confident, but really I was only fitting the mould of who I was supposed to be. I turned out different because of my past memories remaining. Or, suddenly surfacing? Whatever. Still, shortly after we were told to begin the exam, I couldn't help but feel a little excited. I did my best to hide it though, looking at the test before I picked up my pencil. The supervisor started walking down the aisle right next to my seat and I followed him with my eyes, but he walked past me as I picked up my pencil.

"You there, student number 162. Sit properly in your chair." The supervisor said and I couldn't help but turn to see who he was talking to.

The barefooted man crouched in his chair and holding his pencil by the tip looked up as I stared over my shoulder at him. We locked eyes and his expression remained unreadable, but I felt my lips twitch and turned my head back toward the front of the room as I failed to suppress the small smirk. Good thing I had that instinct to get me through the damn thing.

However, waiting those few months until the opening ceremony was killer on my nerves. I was constantly distracted by the fact I was finally going to meet L, but that wasn't the only thing. I was terrified of the speech I had to give. I did not do well with public speaking and I was really just going to have to rely on my instinct to get me through it without skipping the thing entirely.

So, donning my new university uniform, I ended up at the school, pretty damn nervous. My shinigami stalker did not help.

"You're a college student now. That's kind of exciting. I'm filled with joy." Ryuk said.

"Shut up." I muttered, slightly irked, then filed into the building with everyone else.

"Now for the freshman address, freshman representative Light Yagami." The announcer said.

"Y-Yes." I stood up from my seat, hoping my terror wasn't showing.

"Wow." Ryuk commented.

"And freshman representative Hideki Ryuga."

"Oh, uh, here." He called from somewhere as the gasps and whispering started up.

I rolled my eyes, finding an amused smile crossing my face as my arms crossed. Then, we both headed up on stage and stood at the podium. I read from my paper for my speech, bowing when I was finished but not really paying attention as Ryuga held up a paper with nothing written on it and gave a half-assed sounding speech, then finished by scratching at his head while I bowed again before we left the stage.

"Light. Light Yagami? Your father is Soichiro Yagami of the NPA?" Ryuga asked as he followed me down the stairs. "Your respect for your father is matched only by your strong sense of justice."

I didn't respond, instead trying to push away the thought of how creepy that was and returning to my seat. He crouched on the chair beside me and I stared at him as I wondered how he could do that on these cheap folding chairs. The guy just watched me from the corner of his eye as he started talking again.

"You're planning to join the police agency when you graduate. And you've got experience seeing as you've helped the police solve a number of cases in the past. Now you're showing an interest in the Kira case. I'm impressed by your abilities and your sense of justice. If you promise not to tell anyone about this I have important information concerning the Kira investigation that I'd like to share with you."

I blinked, then turned to face forward again, instead looking at him out of the corner of my eye.

"You do realize we're in a room full of people who could overhear, right?" I asked.

"They're not listening." He responded without hesitation.

"Well, I won't tell anyone. What is it?"

He turned his whole head to look at me now. "I want to tell you, I'm L."

I couldn't stop my smile as I turned to face him fully as I replied. "If that's true, you have nothing but my respect and admiration."

"Thank you." He replied. "The reason I chose to reveal my identity to you is because I believe you could be of some use to us on the Kira investigation." He faced forward again, not looking at me now.

I did as well, looking out of the corner of my eye at him as Ryuk started to chuckle.

"If this guy is really L like he says, then consider me impressed." The shinigami said.

I watched the black-haired man's thumb start to trace his lips in a familiar fashion and had to make myself look away before I started laughing like a crazy person.

It was pretty difficult to sit through that ceremony when I was trying not to laugh, but I somehow managed and got the hell outside as quickly as I could.

"I didn't think the ceremony would be so interesting." Ryuk commented as I walked toward the street.

"Hey Light." A voice caught my attention and made me stop.

"Hear that? I think it's your new friend." Ryuk commented.

"Nice meeting you." He said.

"No, the pleasure was mine." I replied, then watched as he approached a fancy black car that a driver had opened the door for him. It really didn't match the jeans and long-sleeved white shirt the guy was wearing.

"Well, I'm sure I'll see you on campus." He said before getting in.

"Yeah. Take care." I replied as the door was closed behind him and the driver got in to drive away.

I heard the others talking about him, but I just started heading for the train I had to take home. Once home, I took off my shoes and found Sayu sitting in the living room.

"Hey, welcome home Miss To-Oh!" She said as I walked past the room to go upstairs.

I stayed quiet, locking my door after getting into my room, then sitting down at my desk and just staring down at the surface of it for a moment.

"Hm?" Ryuk seemed curious about what I was doing.

Instead of cursing L, I started to laugh hysterically. I fell off my chair and proceeded to laugh like I was mad, arms wrapped around myself and feet kicking. It was a bit worse than the last time I had broken out into hysterical laughter.

"What? What are you laughing about this time?" Ryuk asked.

"D-Dammit. H-He r-really…" I started, but broke the sentence with more laughter.

That fit lasted until I nearly passed out from not being able to breathe. Once I finally calmed down to just short bouts of giggles, I picked up my chair and sat back down. I hung my head back and did my best to control my insane giggles before I finally sighed, wiped my watery eyes, and looked at Ryuk.

"This is going exactly how I want it to." I had a fit of giggles before coughing from my sore throat and cringing at the soreness of my abdomen, then continued. "L has revealed himself to me, which means he is suspicious of me. He thinks he's trapped me, but he's unaware of my true intentions by challenging him."

"What are your true intentions? You're not going to kill him so what's your point?"

I just smiled at the shinigami, tilting my head slightly. "What do you mean? It's L. Like most humans, I would like very much to interact with the person I look up to. I have no intention of killing him. No, I intend for something very different to happen this time around."

"You say some pretty strange things, you know that?" Ryuk responded, scratching his head in a confused manner.

I felt my expression turn cold and blank. "I have no interest in going out of my way to entertain you. You said you won't interfere with what I'm doing."

He looked put off, but nodded. "That's what I said."

The shinigami left me alone after that. I'm not sure if I scared him or just reminded him that he was a spectator, but it allowed me to delve into what I should do in the future. Mainly, it was how much I plan to reveal to L before I write my name and burn the notebook. Then I began wondering when I should write my name.


	12. Chapter 12

Two days after the ceremony, I was going to classes like any other regular college student. However, unlike the original, I didn't particularly care for going to any kind of secondary school. It wasn't like I would live long enough to use it anyway. Actually, I had more fun watching Ryuk trying to entertain himself while I was in class. I'd gotten used to his antics, but they were still pretty amusing.

Anyway, today was the day "Ryuga" invited me to play tennis. I haven't played in a while, but it's probably the only sport I bother playing. I'm not sure how good at it I am now though.

So, after changing into a t-shirt and shorts and heading out to the court, I dug out my racket and decided to start a conversation. Considering he was rather silent since we got to the court, I was starting to feel a bit unnerved.

"I have to admit I was surprised, Ryuga." Not really. "I never thought you'd ask me to play tennis to get to know each other."

"Is it a problem for you?"

"Not at all." I grinned and held up my racket to make sure it hadn't bent in the time I had it sitting in my closet. "I haven't played in a while though. Hope I'm not too good if you aren't up for a challenge."

"I'll be fine. It's been a while, but at one time I was actually the British junior champion." He responded dully.

"Impressive." I nodded approvingly. "Well then, I hope neither of us hold back."

"Well, since it's our first match, why don't we just play a single set. First one to six?" He suggested as we went to our own sides of the court.

"Fine by me." I replied, getting ready as I watched him bouncing the ball.

He stopped suddenly, then threw it up in the air and hit it so hard I kind of just stalled as I turned my head and watched it nearly hit the shinigami, who jumped out of the way for some reason. It couldn't hit him, could it? It's just a tennis ball.

"Fifteen-Love." He said.

Turning back to stare at my opponent, I suddenly broke into a nervous smile. "You don't mess around, do you?"

"He who strikes first wins." He responded.

"Alright." I went to pick up the ball and toss it back as I smirked.

I didn't expect any less from him, but he sure gave me a workout, even if we were pretty much tied. He looks so lazy, but damn is he strong. We had gathered a crowd by the time I started wondering if I should go for the win. It's true he was probably trying to profile me, but I hated losing just as much as anyone else did. Besides, when else could I say I beat L at something?

I decided to go for it, and he missed the ball just by an inch or two, but it was my game. The judge we had gotten sometime during the match stated it was my turn to serve, but I ignored the snickering shinigami as I bounced the ball, wondering what I should eat after this as I served and we started up again. Cake? Maybe chocolate of some kind. A sundae? Oh man, deciding's hard, but now I'm starving. I ran up to go on the offensive, intent on ending the match quickly.

"Game and set won by Light Yagami! Six games to four!"

I rested my hands on my knees and panted for a minute before smiling. "Finally, we can leave. This crowd's getting me all anxious." I said to my opponent, looking around as my nerves started kicking in with all these people watching.

So, we packed up our stuff and started walking through the campus.

"Just as I expected, you beat me." Ryuga said.

"It's been a while since I had to play that hard. I don't think I could've gone on much longer." I replied lightly. "I'm kinda thirty, plus, I wanted to ask you something. You wanna go somewhere for a drink and maybe something to eat?" I asked him.

"You humoured me with a tennis match. The least I can do is answer some of your questions." He replied. "But, before this conversation goes any further, there's something I must tell you."

"What's that?"

"I suspect that you, Light Yagami, are in fact Kira. Now, if you still want to ask me something, then please go ahead."

I stopped walking and waited for him to stop and turn back, my face going blank for a second before I laughed. "Well, that's one question answered. So, you think I'm Kira?"

"Well, when I say I suspect you it's only a one percent possibility. That aside, I don't mind telling you that once I'm sure you aren't Kira and I can verify that your deductive skills are as strong as I think they are, I'd like nothing more than to have you work with me on this investigation." He turned and started walking again.

I followed, walking with him to a coffee shop I frequented over the last two days. It had the best hot chocolate and some pretty delicious cake.

"This coffee shop is one of my favourites in the area. And if we sit here, there's no chance of anyone overhearing us." I said after we had gotten our orders.

"Thanks for showing me this place. I can see why you like it."

"Not to mention that we're so out of the way here, no one's going to give you a hard time about the way you sit." I added, resisting a chuckle at the overgrown child crouched on the seat opposite me with a thumb to his mouth.

"I don't sit like this because I want to, I have to sit like this. You see, if I sit normally, my deductive skills would immediately be reduced by roughly forty percent." He replied. "So, what was it you wanted to ask me?"

"Right, well, mostly it was about why you decided to approach me at To-Oh, but you've already answered that." I picked up my fork and started cutting the larger end of my chocolate cake with it. "So, please, let's talk about whatever you want to."

"You're under no obligation to do this but, would you mind submitting yourself to a test of your deductive reasoning skills?"

"Sure, sounds like fun." I said, shrugging and shoving a piece of cake in my mouth.

"Alright then." He dug out some paper from his back pocket and set them on the table. "We can begin by taking a look at these. Photographs of three notes, written by inmates while under Kira's control just prior to their deaths. None of this information has been made public. You can take as long as you want to look them over. Please let me know what you think."

I slowly set down my fork and picked up the notes, reading the words I remember writing and trying my best to remember this scene. I know there are print numbers on the back, but I also know that solving this wasn't his point either. Not to mention I wasn't sure if I should get it wrong on purpose or come up with a way to ask him if there were more.

"So, Kira can control someone's actions before they die?" I asked, flipping through the notes. "Hey, this is incomplete right?"

Screw it, I'm doing it the right way. I set down the notes on the table in the correct order according to the print numbers. I rearranged them to the real message.

"I mean, it makes sense if you put it this way and assume there really are only three that give you "L, do you know, Gods of Death love apples." but, going by the print numbers, it's "L, do you know, love apples, Gods of Death." So, it's incomplete. Did you not give me all of them? Were there really only three notes?"

He stared back at me for a long time before almost reluctantly producing the fake note and putting it on the table. I smiled and put it into the arrangement to read it.

"Ah, so the message is supposed to be "L, do you know, Gods of Death who love apples have red hands." But…What is that supposed to mean?" I tilted my head just slightly, then shook it. "Well, that's not really important. Kira's just mocking you with this, so I doubt you'll find him with this. Besides, we all know Gods of Death don't exist." I stated, picking up my hot chocolate to sip at it.

"If you were me faced with someone who might be Kira, how would you go about establishing this person's innocence or guilt? You need to be absolutely sure."

I paused with the cup just in front of my mouth. "I would probably try to get him to say something that was never made public in any way. Something that only Kira could know." I lowered the cup and smiled just slightly. "Kind of like what you were doing just now."

"Truly amazing. What's incredible is that I've asked countless detectives that same question and it took most of them minutes to even come up with an answer. But you. You immediately thought of a scenario in which Kira is speaking directly to the investigator. I'm impressed. You'll make a fine detective Light."

I just adverted my gaze to my cup. "That isn't really my goal, but it's kind of a double-edged sword. The more impressive my answers, the more of a suspect I become." I froze when I looked up. How the hell can his eyes look like black holes but also make you feel like he's looking right through you? The guy was creepy more often than not.

"Yes. It's about 3 percent now. However, it's made me that much more determined to work with you on this investigation. You see, I'm in a position where even if you are Kira it would still be to my benefit to have you working alongside us. Do you know why I say that?"

"If I cooperate with you there's a chance I can help the investigation to move forward. And if I'm Kira, I might reveal myself." I set down my cup, suddenly getting that horrible feeling in my gut as I remembered what was to happen now. Still, sometimes the foresight takes me by surprise. "I-In other words, whether I'm Kira or not you stand to gain either way. It's a very smart move on your part. But I think you might be getting the wrong idea. It's true that I do have an interest in the Kira case, and yes, detective work is a hobby of mine, but I don't have any proof that you yourself aren't Kira either. I mean, it hardly seems fair that only one of us is being investigated, wouldn't you say? At this point, neither of us can prove we're not Kira. However, if you are in fact L, I don't imagine it'd be that hard for you to prove it to me. I think I'd be convinced if say, my father or someone else from the Task Force Headquarters was able to confirm your identity. If you can't to that, then I'm afraid I won't be able to help you."

"I don't remember saying you couldn't meet anyone from Task Force Headquarters to verify my identity. I'm currently working alongside your father as well as several other senior detectives from the NPA. Now, if I understand you correctly, and I take you to Task Force Headquarters, you'll help us with the investigation. Now, am I safe in making this assumption?"

I crossed my arms and nodded. "But, you know, maybe I should've shortened that speech I made. You suspect me more now, right?"

Before he could answer, his phone started ringing. "Excuse me."

Then mine started and I felt that feeling you get when something horrible's about to happen twist up my stomach even more as I hesitantly answered it.

"Light, your father is…" Mom's worried voice reached my ear and I just felt the twisting get worse.

"Light, it's your-" L started.

"My father…He had a heart attack." I said, blinking rapidly before gathering up my stuff and heading to the hospital with L.

"Dad!" I burst into the hospital room, just relieved to see him alive as my mother scolded me for being so loud in the hospital.

After calming down a bit and hearing an explanation, I sat in one of the chairs beside L.

"Okay, see you tomorrow. Have them call home if you need me to bring anything. Light, you take care of him, okay?" Mom said as she got ready to leave.

"Sure, Mom." I said, all of us watching her close the door behind her before I turned to my father. "So, the doctors think stress is the only cause?"

"Yeah. To be honest, I thought it was Kira when I first collapsed, but I'll be alright. It seems I've been pushing myself a bit too hard lately." My father replied.

"Indeed. It must have added to your stress knowing that Light is a suspect in this investigation." L said.

"You actually told him that?" I stared at the crouched man.

"Yes. In fact, I've told him everything. It's true he even knows that I am L."

I turned back to looking at my dad.

"That's correct. This man is L. To protect his identity, we on the Task Force refer to him as Ryuzaki, but make no mistake, it's him." Dad told me.

I looked over at L. I didn't need a confirmation, but explaining how I knew things I shouldn't would be the biggest problem I don't need.

"So, Ryuzaki, now that you've had a chance to talk to my daughter, is she cleared as a suspect?" Dad asked.

"When I say I suspect her, you should know it's very minor. We've gone over this but I'll explain it again. Not long ago, Kira killed twelve FBI agents who had come to Japan to assist us." L said as he turned to look at me.

I had to consciously resist the cringe at the mention of it.

"They were instructed to follow people connected to the Japanese police."

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair. "I understand." I said, then looked back at L. "But there must be a reason you narrowed it down to me specifically."

"One of the agents, Raye Penber, had a fiance that disappeared around that time as well."

"And I was one of the people he was investigating before he died and his fiance disappeared. It only makes sense I'd be a suspect." I said. "No. To be more precise, there's no one else you could suspect."

"I find Light's deductive powers quite impressive. She's always quick and to the point." L responded.

"Ryuga, I'd like to help with the investigation. My father has erased any doubts I might have had regarding your identity. Also, I'd like nothing more than to catch Kira and make him pay for what he is doing."

"No, Light. This is a time in your life when you should be studying to become a police officer. It won't be too late to join us once you are done." Dad told me.

"Dad? What're you talking about? That'll take years!" I began to argue, then softened my voice as my expression hardened slightly. "Besides, don't you remember my promise? If something ever happened to you, I would find Kira and make sure he gets executed." I looked down at my hands gripping my knees.

"Light, listen to me," Dad made me look up at him. "Kira is pure evil. We can all agree on that. But recently I've started thinking of this whole situation in a different way. What is truly evil is the power to kill people. And any person who has come to possess this kind of power is cursed. No matter how you use it. No true happiness can be obtained like that. Not by killing other people."

"I think you're absolutely right." L spoke up while looking at me. "If Kira is just a normal person who somehow obtained this awful power, I would say that he's cursed."

I stared at him for a moment, then lowered my head and bit my lip as my grip on my knees tightened. "That's an awful curse."

"Ryuzaki, I'm sorry for all this trouble, but I'll be back at work as soon as the doctors let me out of here." Dad said just as the door to the room opened and a nurse peeked in.

"Excuse me, visiting hours are over ten minutes ago." She said.

So, we more or less got kicked out of the hospital and I ended up standing in front of it, watching L walking toward his fancy car.

"Ryuga," I spoke up, making him stop and look back at me. "If…No, never mind." I shook my head and gave him a false smile. "Sorry, it's a stupid question."

"Light, take care of Mr Yagami." He responded after getting in the car and rolling down the window.

"Yeah. Oh, one more thing. I know I agreed to help with the investigation, but I don't think I'll be able to do much until my father's healthy again."

"Yes, of course. Well then." He said as they drove off.

"Ryuk," I said, watching the car disappear. "I did always feel like perhaps I was cursed when I picked up the Death Note. But, I'm happier than I ever remember being and it's thanks to the opportunity only the Death Note could've given me."

"Honestly, I could care less whether you feel cursed or happy to have a notebook. I'll leave that sentimental crap to you humans." Ryuk responded. "But, usually humans who come into contact with a shinigami have nothing but misfortune."

I smiled and started walking. "That's interesting, considering how well things have gone so far. However, perhaps all this good luck will be met with a considerable amount of misfortune later."

Ryuk laughed. "I'm curious what you're always muttering about, but not knowing makes this more interesting to watch."

"Now, if I could prevent her from entering, that would be nice. I'm not sure what I'm going to do there." I mumbled to myself, reminded of the events to come in just a little longer.


	13. Chapter 13

I considered writing her name, but I was a bit afraid to in case Rem found out and killed me for it. I was still working on figuring out when exactly I want to die. So, now that I just decided to watch one of those lame gossip shows, I found myself choking on my cookies at the "Kira" written on the screen. I have now found myself out of time and without a plan.

"-the last thing I want to do is kill the innocent. I hate evil and love justice. I've always thought of the police as allies, not as enemies." The modified voice was saying when I stopped coughing.

"Dammit, why did you have to do this?" I grumbled, smacking a hand to my forehead.

"I intend to create a new world. A perfect world that is free from evil. If you agree to join me in my mission, I know we can make it happen. And as long as no one tries to challenge me, I promise that the innocent will not die. Even if you don't agree with me, all I ask is that you not publicize your views in the media. If you can do that, you will be spared. All you have to do now is be patient. I will create a better world that we can all enjoy. Say goodbye to the world as you know it. Soon, we'll have a new world ruled by benevolence and habituated by kind-hearted, honest people. Try to imagine it, a world where the police and I will-"

I couldn't take it, changing the channel and turning away from the T.V.

"What? Don't want to-" Ryuk was interrupted by the news reporter and I turned back to the T.V. to see someone collapsed in front of the Sakura T.V. station.

"Ukita…" I muttered, my hand going to clutch a fist-full of the fabric of my shirt over the left side of my chest.

Staring at the T.V. but not really watching or listening, I felt my conscience tugging at me like it had when I had to kill the FBI. Not wanting to see the bus or the police officers, I turned off the T.V. and pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them and resting my forehead on them. Now, I was caught between writing her name and risking Rem coming after me or even that it won't work for one reason or another. If I could, I would've just written that stalker's name that Gelus died writing, but I don't remember if it was even mentioned or how it's spelled or anything. However, it's too late now and I have no idea what I should do.

"Dammit!" I yelled, slamming my fists on my desk at the same time I uncurled myself. The entire situation was frustrating.

So, when they aired the video asking for the director general or L to appear on T.V., I decided to ignore it as well as the shinigami. I also knew I would need to join the Task Force very soon.


	14. Chapter 14

Being called in by my father to work on the Kira case with them was pretty much what I expected to happen, so I was ready for it.

"Thank you, Light." L said, shaking hands with me.

"Not at all. I want to catch Kira as much as you do, Ryuga." I replied with a smile, slightly irked by the fact he was taller than me even when he was slouched like that. Why couldn't I have gotten the original Light's decent height too? Instead I got the same height as my old life.

"I'll have to ask that you call me Ryuzaki here." He responded.

I nodded, although my thoughts went to the LABB case.

"I'm Matsui." The man I recognized as Matsuda said.

"I'm Aihara." Aizawa said.

"And I'm Asahi." Dad stated.

"Then I guess I'll call myself Light Asahi?" I asked L.

"Yes, please do. To keep things simple from this point on, I'll call you Light." He replied. "Okay, let's get down to work. You can start by looking over all the information we've collected. I'd also like you to examine these videos. They were sent to the T.V. station but were never aired." He lead me over to the chair in front of the T.V. and I didn't sit down as he continued talking. "For security reasons, you're not permitted to take notes and all materials must remain here."

"I understand." I responded, then got into a crouch on the chair. "Shall we begin?"

He stared at me for a second, then started the first video.

Those videos were nauseating and frustrating, but I did my best not to show it as I watched. The others watched me watching the video and it was kind of freaking me out a bit. I don't know, maybe it's because I'm the only chick in this room? Natural instincts are telling me it's dangerous around this many men. Not to mention they're all older than me and I've got to be extra careful about the names now.

"So, what do you make of this, Light? Have you come to any conclusions?" L asked me, thumb to his mouth again.

"Um…" I looked from him back at the screen, then back at him. "Are you guys sure this is the same Kira?" The others looked a little surprised, but L's expression didn't change. "I mean, the profile isn't matching up. There's probably a copycat out there who got the same power as Kira."

"What do you mean, Light?" Dad asked me as I stood up and turned to them.

"It's out of character for him to use these kinds of victims for his killings. Not to mention previous information states Kira needs a name and a face to kill, but this one killed three people right outside the television station, presumably without knowing anything but their faces. Plus, they just wanted L to show his face on T.V. without mention of a name." I shrugged. "But, uh, I can't be certain about it. I just think there's a good chance this isn't the Kira we're familiar with."

"It's the same." Aizawa said in surprise.

"That's…almost exactly how L, I mean, Ryuzaki said it." Matsuda said.

"I think you're exactly right about that." L said, seeming a little impressed. "We also believe that this is the work of a second Kira."

I crossed my arms and smirked at him. "Ah, I see. The fact we both came to the same conclusion without conferring on the matter is more believable than if just you said it, right?"

"As expected, you did not disappoint us." He replied. "You've been a great help. It's decided then. First, we must focus on stopping this copycat. From what we've seen, he sympathizes with the real Kira, but clearly lacks his sophistication. I think he might even be willing to obey the original. If so, we could lure him into a trap by sending our own message from the real Kira."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You literally took the words right out of my mouth." I replied, knowing that I needed to quell her reckless actions and this was the best way.

"Oh, and Light," L said suddenly. "I would like you to play the part of the real Kira."

"H-Huh? Me?"

"Yes. You're the only one I can think of who'd be able to pull something like this off. At any rate, we don't have time to waste. Do you think you could script a message from Kira in time for this evening's national news?"

Ryuk started laughing behind me as I crossed my arms and looked down.

"I…I guess I could. As long as I don't have to read it."

After an hour or two, I had finished the script and called L over. "Ryuzaki, does this look okay? I hope it's believable."

"I think you've done an excellent job of this."

"Feel free to change whatever you want." I stated, leaning back in the chair and feeling mentally exhausted.

"That sounds good." He responded, looking at it some more. "Okay, Aihara, the script is ready. I'll leave it to you."

"Alright."

After all the preparations were made, we sat watching the scripted message on the news. The sparkly gold "Kira" screen almost made me want to laugh. However, I managed to keep a straight face.

"I am Kira. The true Kira. The one who was broadcast on Sakura T.V. several days ago is a pretender. A fake. The purpose of this message is to communicate my will to this impostor. I have chosen to be lenient with him for the time being, only because I believe he wishes to cooperate with me in the creation of a new world. But I want to make it absolutely clear that the taking of innocent lives is against my will. If this person claiming to be me is truly sympathetic to my cause and wishes to be of some help, I ask two things of him. That he refrain from killing aimlessly and that he agree to abide by my basic principals." The scrambled voice said.

I kind of started to tune it out as I wondered how exactly my relationship with her would be. I mean, I didn't swing that way and I sure as hell wasn't going to kiss her like Light did, so what would that be like? Maybe we'll just be best friends or something? I'm kind of worried about that whatever way it turns out.

The laptop beeping and displaying a "W" snapped me out of my thoughts and I listened as Watari started talking.

"Ryuzaki, we have a reply from the second Kira."

"What?"

"Really?"

We all gathered around the laptop.

"I'll be bringing over the envelope and tape that we received, but in the meantime I'm streaming a copy of the video so you can view it on your end."

The "W" was replaced by the "Kira" of the second Kira's earlier tapes.

"Kira, thank you for your reply. Please do not worry. I will follow orders and do as you say."

"Whoa."

"It worked."

I just stared at the screen blankly, doing my best not to look worried.

"I really want to meet you. I don't think you have the eyes."

I took a step back, glancing at the back of L's head and just waiting for that scene to come to pass.

"But you don't have to worry. I would never try to kill you. That's a promise."

"What's this "having the eyes" supposed to mean? Is it a code?" Aizawa asked.

"Yeah." Matsuda responded.

"Please tell me how I can meet you without the police knowing. You'll think of something. And when we meet, we can confirm our identities by showing our shinigami to each other."

"Shinigami?!"

L threw his arms up and started screaming, which caused me to jerk back in surprise. I was expecting it, but hearing him scream is so weird. His chair fell over and a couple of the others rushed over.

"Ryuzaki! You alright?"

L just sat up and stared at the laptop that was now just static. "Sh-Shinigami…Am I supposed to believe that? That shinigami actually exist?"

"That's impossible." Matsuda said.

"Obviously they don't exist." Aizawa said.

"O-Of course shinigami don't exist." I said, although I probably didn't sound as certain as Light had before. Then again, it's kind of difficult when there's one standing behind me.

L looked back at me. "You're probably right, but I remember that Kira had those prisoners write something suggesting the existence of shinigami."

"So based on that fact, perhaps we're dealing with the same person after all. That would definitely explain why we're hearing the same words." Dad said.

"I don't think so. If this were the same person, it's highly unlikely he would've responded to our video in the first place." I replied. "And why would he agree to let L live after going to all the trouble of getting him to appear on T.V.? The real Kira wants him dead, so, it doesn't make sense."

"Then maybe there's some other connection between the real one and this new guy. They could've already met and decided to use the word "shinigami" as a way to confuse us." Aizawa replied.

"No, I'd say that's unlikely." L said, putting his chair back into place and crouching on it again. "It's as Light says. If the two Kira's were connected, I don't think the impostor would be so willing to give up on his plan to kill me. All of this suggests to me that the copycat has his own agenda and is acting independently of the first. I believe his actual motivation is to meet the original."

"I think you're right. He's acting out of an interest in Kira. The word "shinigami" could very well be some reference to their killing power. Saying, "We can confirm our identities by showing our shinigami to each other," probably means that they confirm their identities by somehow demonstrating their ability to kill." I said, crossing my arms.

"Yes, that's it." L responded. "Based on their messages, we can assume that the word "shinigami" must hold some other meaning that only the real Kira and the second Kira are aware of. Now we just need to convince this copycat to tell us what that is."

"So, what? We respond and force him to tell us? But we can't make it too obvious we're asking or he'll realize we're not Kira." I said.

"No, for now on, it's best that we leave it up to the two Kiras." L replied.

"What do you mean?" Aizawa asked.

"I imagine that the second Kira is probably quite satisfied with the current situation now that he's received a televised response. He sent a message to get Kira's attention and as far as he knows, he now has it. Also, there's that word he used. One that only the two of them would understand. We'll arrange to have this reply broadcast today on Sakura six o'clock news. Naturally, this will be of interest to Kira and he'll be following the exchange between the copycat and the one we've invented. Now, if I were Kira himself, my priority would be to prevent this impostor from coming into contact with the police. This is good for us because it means that the real Kira may feel pressured to respond this time."

"Okay, but let's say that he doesn't respond. Then what do we do?" Aizawa asked.

"Yes. I've been thinking about what the second Kira might do if he gets no response. For one, he might reveal more information that he knows Kira once kept secret, to pressure him into a meeting. Of course, that would make Kira nervous. It could be interesting." L smiled just a bit. "And what would be more interesting is if Kira sends a message of his own to prevent this from happening. Ideally, this could provide us with the physical evidence we'll need to build a case against him. In the meantime, let's gather all the information we can on the copycat."

I didn't like where this was going, but it's not like I could do anything about it at this point.


	15. Chapter 15

I ended up stressing about the entire second Kira issue until the day we got that diary. That's when I came to a decision. It was just before I got called and headed to the place I was supposed to meet up with everyone.

"He wanted the journal shown on T.V.?" I asked when I got there.

"Yes. This is it." Dad handed it to me.

"Please take a look at the entry he made on the thirtieth." L said, so I did.

"Confirmed our shinigami at the Tokyo Dome." It said, and Ryuk gave a short raspy laugh over my shoulder as I looked at a different date. May twenty-second. "My friend and I showed off our notebooks in Aoyama."

"What do you think? Is it real?" L asked me.

"All I can say is he must be stupid." I stated.

"Yeah, I agree. I mean, it's completely obvious he wants to meet Kira at the home game." Matsuda said.

"Doesn't he understand what would happen if we aired this message?" Dad asked. "It would create an immediate panic and the game would have to be cancelled.

"To be honest, it's so stupid," L said, putting a chocolate in his mouth. "I'm not even sure how to deal with this whole situation anymore. If we make the diary public, it'll be forced to make an announcement cancelling the game on the thirtieth," He crouched on a chair. "But if we don't broadcast it, we can be sure the second Kira won't do anything."

"Won't cancelling the game make him angry? There's no telling what he'll do." Matsuda said as we all went over to sit down on the couches around the coffee table.

"Frankly, that's not a big concern. From what we've witnessed, it's safe to say the second Kira admires the real one. He gave his word to the Kira we invented that he'd refrain from killing aimlessly. I'm inclined to believe that. I say we make it public and we air an announcement cancelling the game. At the same time, we'll make an announcement that we're going to set up checkpoints at all roads leading to the Tokyo Dome. And finally, we'll send a response from our invented Kira. Something like, "I understand and I agree to meet you there." L said.

"Ryuzaki, you don't honestly expect him to go there if we set up checkpoints around the dome, do you?" Dad asked.

"I don't think that Kira would even consider it, but it's possible the other one might. It all depends on how stupid he really is." L said, looking at the journal. "However, assuming he's not actually the idiot we think he is, there could be another message hidden in this diary. One that's not so obvious. If there's a message here, written in some code that only people who have this "shinigami" power can understand, there'd be no way for me to decipher it. Still, it would only make sense for us to look into all of the places that were mentioned in the journal. The twenty-second he's meeting a friend in Aoyama…Twenty-forth, meeting another friend in Shibuya…We have to be prepared for the possibility that all of our efforts will be fruitless. Let's keep an eye out for people with notebooks in Aoyama and people in clothing stores in Shibuya."

I'm not worried about her getting caught. I'm worried about later on.

"All we can do is place more surveillance cameras in Aoyama and Shibuya in hopes that we might catch something. We should also arrange to have undercover officers in both locations on these dates."

"I should probably go to Aoyama and Shibuya since I'd blend in with the crowd there, you know?" Matsuda suggested.

"I'll go too." I volunteered.

"But Light," Dad started to protest.

I smiled at him. "There's nothing to worry about. Aoyama and Shibuya are places I'd go anyway. Not to mention out of all of us, I'd probably look the most natural hanging out with Matsui there. Besides, the second Kira will be looking for Kira, not the police." I pointed out.

So, that got settled and I talked to Matsuda about the trips.

"Okay, we'll talk more about our trips tomorrow." I told him.

"Sounds good Light." He replied as I got in the taxi. "See you tomorrow. Careful getting home."

"You too." I replied before closing the door and riding off.

Once I got in the door, I felt like collapsing I was so exhausted.

"I'm home." I called tiredly.

"Hello dear. You're back quite late today." Mom greeted me as I took off my shoes.

"Yeah, sorry." I started walking past. "I'm going to bed early tonight."

"Light, aren't you going to have any dinner?" Mom called up the stairs after me.

"No, I ate out."

Once my door was locked, I flopped face-down on my bed and sighed. I fell asleep pretty quickly too.

When we were supposed to go to Aoyama, I decided to call a couple "friends" to hang out, since being alone with Matsuda was kind of awkward.

"Um, excuse me, Light?" He approached me, looking a bit confused. "What's going on here?"

"Oh, these are some of my friends from school." I replied, turning to the group of seven or so people.

"Nice to meet you." Matsuda bowed slightly to them and they returned it.

"This is my cousin Taro. It's his first time ever in Tokyo and he wants to see Aoyama and Roppongi, so I figured the least we could do is show him a good time. I'm counting on you guys." I said, then grinned mischievously. "Oh yeah, he also told me he's looking for a girlfriend, so ladies?"

The group laughed.

"Hey, I never said that!" Matsuda protested.

After walking around a bit and keeping up an exhausting charismatic act all day, like I expected, no one approached me at either location we went to on either day.


	16. Chapter 16

"So, we were there both days. In Aoyama on the twenty-second and in Shibuya on the twenty-forth, and we observed nothing of significance on either occasion. That leaves us with only the dome on the thirtieth." Aizawa reported.

The computer beeped and displayed the "W" before Watari's voice came through. "Ryuzaki, apparently Sakura T.V. has just received another message from the second Kira. It was post-marked on the twenty-third."

We all looked at the laptop as it changed to the "Kira" screen.

"I'm happy to say that I have found Kira. To all the people of the television station and police department, I'd like to thank you very much."

"This is a disaster if he found him." Aizawa said.

"Yeah, it most likely means that the two Kiras are now cooperating with each other." Dad said.

"At this point, I don't think we should jump to any conclusions." L said, stirring his tea. "The second Kira is only saying that he found him, nothing more. He may not have made contact yet. Now that it's come to this," L slurped his tea. "We have no choice but to communicate as the police directly with the second Kira."

"You want to send a message?" Matsuda asked.

"Yes. The police need to reach out to the copycat and offer him a deal. We need to negotiate with him to see if we can get Kira's real name."

"That's the last thing you wanted to hear, right?" Ryuk snickered.

However, I didn't bother watching the message. Instead, I sat and played an RPG until the doorbell rang and I hurried to put away the game before I rushed out of my room and spotted Sayu gawking at the blonde standing in the doorway.

"Hello and good evening. My name is Misa Amane. I just came by to give Light an important notebook she left at school earlier today." The blonde gothic-lolita said as I lurked on the stairs.

"U-Um…M-Misa?" I asked, coming down the stairs before Sayu even turned around.

"Oh, Light!" She seemed to light up when she saw me.

I got confused looks from my family as I went out onto the front step with her and closed the door.

"Um, pleased to meet you. I'm Misa Amane." She bowed to me. "I thought you might get worried if you saw that message on T.V." She dug a black notebook out of her bag and held it out to me. "I just couldn't take it anymore so I brought, this notebook."

I stared at it for a second before going and touching it. Looking up, I spotted the skeleton-like shinigami behind her. So, I opened the door and invited her in.

"Please, come in."

"You're sure it's okay? Thanks." She stepped inside and I closed the door behind her.

"Mom, she came all this way to return my notebook. Could you make us some tea?" I asked.

"Sure, I don't see why not." Mom responded as the two watched me and Misa go upstairs.

I offered her my desk chair. "Have a seat."

"Oh, um, thank you." She accepted and sat down as I went to sit down on the end of my bed.

"So, how did you find me?" I decided I might as well play dumb.

"I knew it! You never made the shinigami eye deal." She said. "When you have the shinigami eyes like I do, you can see most people's name and lifespan just by looking at them. However, you can't see the lifespan of any person who possesses a Death Note."

I just nodded. "Alright, but what if you'd been caught? You were acting pretty recklessly."

"It's alright. Because the police didn't catch me. And if I do as you say from now on, they'll never be able to. So we're safe. After all, don't you need someone to see L's name? If you want, I could be your eyes. So…" She lowered her head.

"Yeah? So what?" I asked, trying not to sound too annoyed.

"Would you please be my friend?"

"Huh?" I blinked. Well, that's better than "girlfriend" at least. I sighed. "I've got something to say first," I narrowed my eyes dangerously at her. "L lives. I don't need your eyes, I already know his name and I'm choosing to keep him alive. You kill him and we're enemies." She stayed silent, so I continued. "And as far as being friends goes, if you and I were seen together after both being caught on tape at Aoyama on that day, they'll be suspicious."

"But look," She pulled out pictures from her purse and showed me a black-haired girl with glasses that looked nothing like her. "These are pictures of me when I went to Aoyama that day."

"Well, I'm sure no one would recognize her from this." Ryuk commented.

"And what about your fingerprints? All those tapes you sent to the T.V. station. They all had the same fingerprints on them." I pushed the issues with us knowing each other.

"Yeah, but those aren't my fingerprints! It's not like I do these things without thinking about them first!" She argued. "Up until recently, I lived in the Kansai region and I had this friend who was into the occult. I suggested that we distribute this fake poltergeist video I had made to a bunch of different T.V. shows. Sort of as a prank. And she agreed to help me with it. I had her take care of all of the dubbing so my fingerprints wouldn't be on the tapes. Then I took them from her, added the Kira graphic, and recorded the message with that voice effect."

"And this friend? Where is she now?"

"Why are you doing this to me?! If you want me to kill her just say so and I'll kill her!" She yelled at me.

"No. That's against what I stand for. No innocents are to die...Anymore." I responded firmly.

"If you really still can't trust me, then, here." She held out her notebook to me. "I'll even let you hold on to my Death Note. But you'd just be holding it, so I'd still be the rightful owner of it and that means I get to keep my shinigami eyes. Isn't that right, Rem?" She looked up at her shinigami.

"Yes, that's right." She responded as I took the notebook.

"Now there's no way I could possibly kill you." Misa continued. "And if I become a burden to you, then you can just kill me, okay?"

I let out a heavy sigh. "What if you took some pages out and are hiding them?"

Her eyes got teary and she stood up. "Why are you so suspicious of me?! I already told you, I don't care even if all you do is use me! Believe me." As I stayed quiet, she deflated until she was sitting on the floor. "Exactly one year ago, my parents were killed in a robbery. I was home with them at the time. It happened right in front of me. I wanted that man to pay for what he did. But the trial dragged on forever. Opinions started surfacing that he was being falsely accused. Then it happened. Kira punished him for what he did to my parents. And that's why Kira means everything. Kira means everything to me. All I…" She lifted her head. "All I wanted was a chance to meet you one day! So I could thank you for what you did." Her head fell back down as she started to cry.

All of the irrational moves she took to meet me. I didn't have the heart to tell her that everything I did was for me to meet my hero as well. I didn't really have a noble goal like cleansing the world of evil. I just figured I would help out a little by killing criminals instead of just random people. However, I can relate to her. I did everything to meet L. It wasn't quite as reckless, but it was still a selfish thing to do. So, I did something a bit out of character for me. I walked up and hugged the girl. She gasped from the shock of it, but I didn't let go.

"I understand. I can try to be your friend, but please don't expect that much from me. I'm not used to having friends who know my secrets, so I can't say I like you." I told her. "The lengths you went to meet me…I can understand that. I've been doing the same thing. Just please, don't sacrifice your life anymore."

"Thank you so much. I'll try my hardest to make you like me. I promise." She hugged me back.

I had to break the hug, due to it being uncomfortable from the start, so I helped her up and told her to sit back down in the chair. I then went to sit on the end of my bed, pulling my knees to my chest and resting my chin on them.

"Alright, I have some ground rules, just in case."

"Ground rules?" She asked.

"L stays alive. In order to make sure that happens, I won't tell you who he is so you don't know who's name you're looking for." I stated. "Second, no more innocents die from this point on. Only the criminals that deserve death." I uncurled to sit normally and gave her a determined look. "Third, I will die after I have achieved my goals and you can make your own choice as to whether or not to follow."

"What?" She looked shocked. "What do you mean?"

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I am the worst criminal on the planet right now and you're a close second, but I'm not going to kill you because I want you to decide what to do on your own. I will write my own name at some point, I just haven't decided on when."

"Wow. You must be true justice." She stared at me, wide-eyed, then changed the subject. "Well, now that we talked about that, could you show me your shinigami? I really want to see him."

"Sure. Turn around." I said, getting up and taking out my wallet as she faced away from me in the chair. I took out the piece of paper from the notebook and touched it to her hand before putting it away. "You can turn back now."

"Okay." She turned around and came face to face with Ryuk.

"Hey there, how's it going?" He asked her.

"Oh! Look at that! You're a completely different type of shinigami than Rem, aren't you? I already know your name. It's Ryuk, right?" She lifted a hand and waved. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, same here." Ryuk mirrored her wave.

"Oh, and by the way, Light, do you know how to kill a shinigami?" Misa asked.

"Hm?" I listened to her tell me how to kill a shinigami before asking questions like I didn't already know. "So, if a shinigami has feelings for a human and kills someone else in order to extend that human's life beyond it's natural end the shinigami will die?"

"That's right." Misa replied.

"Good luck trying to find a shinigami who'd volunteer to try and do that." Ryuk laughed.

"Well, I sure can't see you ever doing that." I responded to him. "By the way, where'd you send all those tapes from? The ones that went to the T.V. stations?"

"Let's see…Osaka the first time, then Tokyo, this other one from Nagano. I took the bullet train every time so that way the police couldn't pinpoint my location."

"Alright, one more thing. Do you still have the video tapes and envelopes with your friend's fingerprints on them?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, you'll have to dispose of everything that was used to create those video tapes, understand? But, before you do, I need you to send one last video. And make sure it's from a place you haven't used yet. It should say, "I've decided to stop searching for Kira. And I would like to thank the police department for all of it's advice. However, I still plan to help Kira in his mission and I hope that in time he will come to see me as an ally. I will start by punishing criminals that Kira has yet to judge. Also, I will share my powers with others I feel are worthy and I will encourage them to do the same. Together we'll make this world a better place."."

"Share my power?" She repeated in confusion.

"We need to throw them off. Oh, and be careful to continue referring to Kira as male." I paused, feeling a little bad that I was using her to further the plot. "Can you do it?"

"No need to ask. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it. I don't care what it is 'cause I'd do anything for you."

Okay, the friend thing is more of a she's kind of a creepy admirer I'll have to put up with sometimes.

"There's one more thing that's very important."

"What's that?"

"If you get arrested by the police, or if you're ever brought in for questioning, you can never mention anything about us or the Death Note. As long as they don't get ahold of that notebook, there's no proof that you did anything. Can you promise to say nothing?"

She lifted her hand. "I promise. So, this must mean that we're officially best friends now, aren't we?"

"Uh, sure, I guess?" I said uncertainly.

She lifted a finger. "Then, I'd like to add one condition. You have to hang out with me at least once a week."

I sighed. "Misa, we can't. It's suspicious for us to suddenly be friends and being together that often is dangerous." I said tiredly. "L already suspects that I'm Kira. He doesn't need to suspect you too."

"No way. L is amazing. I mean, everyone's been saying that he's getting no where with the investigation and that he's a complete idiot and stuff, but he already knows that much?" She seemed caught between impressed and disbelieving.

"Anyway, it worked out well for me because it's allowed me to get close to L."

"Huh? You and L are in contact with each other? T-Then that's even more amazing! This is getting so exciting!"

"Even though he suspects I'm Kira, L figures he's safe as long as I don't know his real name, but what he doesn't know is that I have no intention to kill him in the first place."

"But you killed that guy that claimed to be L on T.V. before?" She said in confusion.

"He was a criminal." I replied with a shrug. "It doesn't count to me, but they're assuming I want L dead because of that." I waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, I'll call you and meet up with you whenever this situation will allow, but really, we can't appear to be too close, okay?"

"I…think I understand." She said slowly, then got agitated. "But, L is trying to catch you. Why can't I kill him?"

I gave her a sharp look. "If L dies, I'm making you go with him, got it?"

"I would never allow that, Light Yagami." Rem stepped in. "If you do anything that results in this girl's death, the first thing I'll do is write your name in my Death Note. I will kill you. I'm sure you realize that I can see her lifespan. If she happens to die before that time, I'll know it was you who killed her."

I surprisingly didn't even flinch, turning my sharp look on the shinigami. "Same goes for you. You die if you write my name because she died, but if you ever write L's name, I will be the one to write hers."

After a tense stare down with the tall shinigami, a knock at my door distracted all of us.

"Light," My mother called through the door.

"Yeah, what is it?" I asked like nothing was wrong.

She opened the door. "It's almost eleven thirty, you know. You really shouldn't have company over this late."

"Oh, of course. I guess we lost track of time." I replied with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry Mrs Yagami." Misa said.

We went out to see her off, Sayu and Mom included.

"I'm really sorry for coming over so late at night." Misa said, then waved at me. "See you later, Light."

"Yeah." I responded, waving back.

"Well, goodnight." She said, then turned and ran off.

"Isn't she cute?" Mom said as we watched her go.

"Yeah, I know. When she got here, I wasn't so sure, but you're right. She's cute, Mom." Sayu agreed. "I like her."

I went back inside and decided to head to bed. Dealing with Misa was also exhausting.


	17. Chapter 17

"Good morning, Light." Sayu greeted me when I came down for breakfast.

"Good morning." Mom greeted me as well.

"Mom, Sayu, can you do me a big favour? And keep Misa a secret from Dad and everyone else for now? You see, Misa's a model and we wanted to keep our friendship a secret so I wasn't hounded by the press or anything."

"What?! Is she really?" Sayu asked. "I thought she was pretty, but I had no idea! That's pretty impressive! Even for you, Light." She got the mischievous look on her face. "I'll keep it a secret, for fifty bucks!"

"Oh, stop it." Mom said as Ryuk snickered.

"Even if my friend's a model, it doesn't mean I'm made of cash." I responded while laughing lightly.

School was boring, as usual. At least I didn't have to talk to Takada or what's her name though. After classes were over, I headed over to the hotel to see if they had gotten the tape yet.

"Hello." I greeted when I opened the door.

"Oh, come in. Your timing couldn't be better, actually." L responded as I set down my bag. "We just received a new video message from the second Kira."

"Huh? Wow, that didn't take long." I responded as I went over to see it.

"Yes. I believe it's the last one. Well, take a look at this." L hit the play button on the remote and the familiar screen came up.

"I've decided to stop searching for Kira. And I'd like to thank the police department for their advice. However, I still plan to help Kira in his mission and I hope that in time, he will come to see me as an ally. I will start by punishing criminals that Kira has yet to judge. Also, I will share my power with others who I think are worthy and I will encourage them to do the same. Together, we'll make this world a better place."

"After watching this, I can only think that Kira and the second Kira have managed to make contact." L stated after turning off the T.V.

"Yeah, you're right. No way that sudden change of heart and just giving up on their original goals couldn't've been scripted. It's pretty obvious the purpose of the message is to hide the fact that they met." I replied, putting a hand to my forehead as L noisily ate whatever was in front of him. "What's really strange is that it's unlike Kira to be so careless."

"That's true, but are we to believe that Kira made a mistake this time? Or is this his way of letting us know they made contact? It'd be an effective means of provoking us. The idea of their union is very threatening. However, this is also one less reason to suspect that Light is Kira."

"Ryuzaki, what do you mean by that?" Dad asked.

"If Light is Kira, I don't think this is the message she would have had the second Kira send us. It doesn't fit. She would've had the second Kira go through with his plan to have me appear on T.V. Then, deny that they ever made contact, letting the second Kira shoulder the blame for my death. She'd make him say something like, hm…" He licked the donut he was holding. ""Although I have agreed not to go through with this, I have come to realize that it is not Kira's true intention that I stop. I'm positive that the real Kira would want L to die. There's no way he'd make me…stop."." L licked the donut some more.

"Ryuzaki,"

"Yes, Light?"

"I think you're mistaken. I would never do that if I were the original Kira."

"Why not?"

"Well, if you're L and I'm the original Kira, then I already know your personality pretty well. L would never agree to appear on T.V. no matter what threat he was facing. And he wouldn't allow someone else to die in his place. The L I know would find some way to escape the situation."

He looked at me. "So, you figured it out."

"Light, you've got to stop that. I don't like hearing you say, "If I were Kira" even hypothetically."

"I'm sorry, Dad." I responded, not looking away from L. "I just wanted to let Ryuzaki know what I thought of his plan. I posed that scenario because I want to help solve this case. The only reason I'm comfortable saying things like that is because I'm not the original Kira."

"That's a good point. You're not Kira. That is, it would be a problem if you were Kira," L said, stirring his tea. Then he stopped "Because…I feel you're the first friend that I've ever had."

That line was like a slap to the face. I would've physically recoiled if I hadn't gotten so good at hiding things.

"Y-Yeah, I know what you mean. The two of us have a lot in common." I responded.

"Thank you." L then looked at me as I smiled.

"And, I have missed having you around at school. We should play tennis again soon."

"Yes, we should." L turned back to his tea, slurping it.

As I walked home, the annoying shinigami decided to speak up.

"A friend? He's your friend? That's a good thing, isn't it, Light?"

"He's a friend, but I'm a goddamn backstabber." I grumbled, angry with myself at this point.

"I see."

"Light!" Misa's voice yelled just before I got tackled to the ground. "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't wait for two weeks like you said! Actually, I was just on my way to your house when I spotted you!"

I agree with the original Light. I wanted to smack this girl so badly at that moment.

"I…I just wanted to see you so badly." She said as we got up.

"Well, you might as well come over." I sighed.

"Yay!" She squealed.

"Oh, great to see you, Misa!" Sayu greeted when we got there. "I saw you in a whole bunch of magazines."

"Please, come on in." Mom said.

"Sorry to drop by like this." Misa replied, taking off her shoes.

"Could you make us some tea, Mom?" I asked, closing the door behind me.

Upstairs, I locked my room's door and spent some time listening to Misa talk about the photo shoot she had the other day. I ended up showing her my latest video game obsession and we more or less bonded. She still got kinda crazy devotee of Kira on me sometimes, but it was fine. At least she didn't claim to be in love with me. I don't think I could even pretend with that. Anyway, she ended up giving me one of her cell phones too.


	18. Chapter 18

After mulling over everything that's happened, I finally decided on when I will die. November fifth. I got up early in the morning and grabbed the Death Note to tear out a page.

"Hm? What're you doing?" Ryuk asked curiously, looming over my shoulder as I took a pen and took a deep breath.

I ignored the shinigami, instead, getting an image of my own face in my head and getting ready to write the details of my own death. My eyes snapped open as I steeled my resolve. The pen's tip hit the paper and I began writing carefully, but quick enough that I didn't screw up.

"Light Yagami.

Dies peacefully in sleep.

November 5, 2007 11:59 PM"

I hesitated, wondering if I should add any other details, but decided against it and set the pen down.

"You actually did it!" Ryuk said, sounding shocked for a second before bursting into a howling cackle that made my head pound.

I did my best to ignore him as I opened the hidden compartment of my watch, folded the page up so my name was hidden on the inside, then stashed it away with the pin there.

"I can't believe you did it!" Ryuk was still laughing.

"Shut up, would you? It's six in the morning." I whined.

"I've never heard of anyone crazy enough to write their own name in the Death Note."

"I have." I responded bluntly, resting my head on my desk.

"Well, I guess this means I can't write your name in my Death Note now." He had finally calmed down.

"I just hope it works." I muttered, already falling back asleep.

. . .

At school, I was just walking by myself like usual and spotted an odd man crouched on a bench and reading. So, of course I had to go approach him.

"Yo." I greeted, walking up to him.

"Hey, Light." He responded a bit too happily before his face dropped into that blank expression along with his monotone. "How's it going?"

"Is it okay to be here? Didn't you say you're afraid to appear in public?" I asked him curiously.

"Yeah, I did. But then I realized that as long as you're not Kira, I should be safe. The fact is, you're the only one on the outside that knows me as L. In the unlikely event that I die in the next few days, I've instructed your father and everyone at headquarters to assume that you are Kira. Besides, you told me yourself you missed having me around at school, so I figured why not come back for a little change of pace. As long as it doesn't kill me, college is a lot of fun."

"Well then, let's hope you don't die so you can enjoy it some more." I replied lightly.

He suddenly got up, putting on his shoes. "Hey, do you want to have some cake with me in the cafeteria?"

"Sure. I have a break now anyway." I replied, starting to walk with him.

"Mm. That's perfect. I'm kind of craving shortcake right now."

"It's chocolate for me. It's always chocolate." I responded.

"Light, there you are!" A girly giggle made us both stop and turn around to see the blonde. "I had a photo shoot nearby, so I thought I'd come by to see you!"

"Please tell me there's no one with cameras with you." I responded in a sort of whine.

"Oh, this must be your boyfriend. He looks so different. Unique." She said, ignoring me and looking at L.

"I don't have a boyfriend, Misa." I sighed out.

"Hi there, I'm Light's best friend, Misa Amane. Nice to meet you." She said.

"I'm Hideki Ryuga." He responded.

"Huh? Hideki Ryuga?" Misa asked looking above his head.

I moved in front of her in an attempt to block her view of his name. "Yeah, he has the exact same first and last name as the idol. Pretty bizarre, huh?"

When I turned back to L, he had that creepy look on his face as he stared at Misa. He was laughing too.

"Oh great, he's a fan." I grumbled, crossing my arms.

"Light," He spoke up. "You're a lucky girl."

I blinked in surprise.

"I have been a huge fan of yours ever since the August issue of Eighteen." He told Misa.

"Wow! Really?" She looked delighted. "That's so sweet of you!"

"Hey, oh my god! Isn't that girl Misa-Misa?"

"You're right! It's her!"

"No. They've noticed." I muttered, watching as a crowd began to form.

As Misa was talking to the crowd, I tried my best to stay at least a little bit away from it and didn't pay much attention.

"No way! Somebody just touched my butt!" Misa yelled, getting my attention back.

I crossed my arms and couldn't help the smirk that formed upon seeing L looking at his hand pretty guiltily before he reacted.

"This is an outrage! Taking advantage of the situation is unforgivable! I will find whoever is responsible for this." He said, running around the front of Misa, where I was standing near her.

"Chasing your own tail?" I muttered under my breath, resisting the urge to laugh as Misa giggled at him.

"Oh, Ryuga, you're so funny."

The crowd started laughing too as L put a hand to the back of his head.

"Misa," A business woman cut through the crowd and grabbed Misa's arm. "It's time. Or were you planning to be late again?"

"N-No, uh, I'm sorry, Yoshi."

"Let's go!"

"Oh, okay." Misa was being dragged away, but turned to wave back at me. "Bye Light! I'll see you after I'm done work!"

The crowd dispersed and L turned back to me.

"Now then, perhaps we should get going." He said.

"I've got to go to the restroom first. You go on ahead." I said.

"Oh, okay then. I'll see you there." He started walking away.

I started walking the other way and pulled out the cell phone Misa gave me. As it rang, I heard the ringtone from behind me. I turned around to see L holding the cell phone up by the strap, pinched between his thumb and finger.

"Yes?" He finally answered it. "Hello?"

"What do you mean "hello"?" I asked in an annoyed tone.

"Oh, is that you, Light? I guess someone must have dropped this phone in all of the commotion earlier on."

You mean you stole it when you touched Misa's butt. Dammit, this is kind of embarrassing that I was calling her just because this was the way it was before. I didn't have any real purpose in calling her.

"Uh, hello?" L asked.

"Yeah, that's Misa's cell phone you have. I can give it back to her." I said, walking up behind him.

"Oh, I see. Sure, that makes sense." He said, then hung it up and turned around to hand it to me.

As he started to walk away again, I tried Misa's other phone. Of course, a phone started ringing on his person again before I even hit the call button.

"Oh, this time it's actually my cell phone." he said, clearing his throat as he took it out and answered it. "Yes? Yes, I see. So, it's done then? I understand." He hung up the phone and turned back around. "I'm not exactly sure how you'll take this, but regarding Misa Amane, there's something you should know. We've taken her into custody under suspicion of being the Second Kira."

The damn shinigami started laughing.

"We gathered physical evidence from the envelopes that were sent by the second Kira. In particular, we recovered hairs and fibres from the masking tape used to seal them. They matched what we found in Misa's room. There will be a public uproar if word gets out that she's been apprehended as the second Kira, so officially, we've charged her manager with drug possession and she's a voluntary witness. But I doubt any of this will get out."


	19. Chapter 19

I started getting to work on attempting to modify Light's original plan. Rem came phasing through my wall three days after they took Misa in.

"What's the matter, Rem?" Ryuk asked her.

"Light Yagami. Misa has refused my offer to help her escape. No doubt because she knows it will cause you trouble, since the police would then have proof of her powers. When her suffering became more than she could bear, she started begging me to kill her. All of this because she wants you to accept her. I could not possibly let it go on like that. I couldn't bring myself to do it. There was only one way to save her from her suffering."

"Forfeiting ownership of the Death Note." I said, my expression a hard mask of nothing as I thought about what to do.

"Yes. If Misa forfeits ownership of the Death Note, all her memories related to it would disappear. All the murders she committed with it. The fact that you are Kira. All those memories would be gone. Your secret would be safe. Also, Misa would no longer be able to see Ryuk or me either."

I know I have to do something, but I think I'm going to do it differently, but still similar.

"And so, Misa is no longer the owner of a Death Note."

"You did the right thing, Rem. They'll have to release her eventually if she can't remember anything about the Death Note."

"Light Yagami, I preposed this to Misa knowing it was exactly what you wanted and it would serve your purposes, but I did so on one condition." She lifted a bony finger to point at my forehead. "And that is if you don't save Misa, I will kill you."

I stared back at the shinigami until her hand lowered, then I smiled. "No worries, Rem. That was my intention anyway. Now, since I start deviating from the way things are supposed to go at this point, please bear with me." I turned to my own shinigami. "This is goodbye, Ryuk."

"Huh?" The shinigami looked shocked.

. . .

I ended up taking the two shinigami out to the middle of nowhere. I gave Rem one of the Death Notes, then relinquished my ownership of it. I buried the other one. Rem left and Ryuk followed me back to where I met up with the Task Force. I used the same key words for relinquishing ownership of that one as the original Light had. "Get rid of it." I planned to use the same muttering as he did too. I'm not exactly sure what'll happen when I lose my memory, but hopefully I can get through being detained. It's scary, but I gathered all the willpower and channelled whatever was left of the original Light to get up the courage to call L. Getting myself to the hotel was a bit difficult as well. Matsuda let me in.

"Ryuzaki, like I said over the phone, I could be Kira." I said reluctantly.

Of course, Dad freaked out and grabbed my shoulders. "No, Light! What're you talking about?! Why would you even say something like that?! Why!?"

I just kept my eyes closed as he shook me by my shoulders. When I did open them, I just looked at the floor.

"Look, Dad, if Ryuzaki is L, then it's safe to say he's the world's best detective. And right now, he seems pretty sure that I'm Kira. We know L's never been wrong before."

"Wh-What're you saying, Light?! Stop this!"

"What about that FBI agent, Raye Penber? If it was me he was investigating immediately before he died, and I was in Aoyama on May twenty-second. Also, I'm the first person in the Kanto region that Misa, the alleged second Kira, approached. It's all been me. If I were in L's place, even I would've come to the same conclusion. You see, subconsciously, I might be Kira. If that were the case, I could be and not even know it."

"No, Light."

"I…I'm not sure of anything anymore. I'd never kill someone, but unconsciously, who knows what I'm capable of? Another me could be killing people as I sleep."

"I'm afraid that's not possible." L said.

"Not possible? What do you mean?"

"Well, I never mentioned this to you, but at one point I had hidden surveillance cameras installed in your room for five days."

"What!? What are you, a pervert?!" I yelled, feeling my face starting to burn at being reminded of that.

"Every single night, you slept normally." He ignored my outburst. "Criminals whose names were broadcast were still dying even though you would've had no way of knowing about them. But this didn't prove your innocence to me. All it proved was that if you were Kira, no amount of camera surveillance would reveal that fact."

"Wouldn't reveal that fact huh? I…I don't know, it could be true. I have to admit, I've found myself thinking that some criminals deserve to die. If I can think like Kira, then how can I be sure that I'm not actually…"

"Hold on, Light." Matsuda spoke up. "I feel exactly the same way. I found myself thinking before that some people would be better off dead, but still, that doesn't mean we're going to go out and kill people! Isn't that right? Besides, criminals were still being killed even when you had no knowledge of them. I mean, the surveillance cameras proved it, didn't they?"

"Well, no." Aizawa spoke up. "Because we were short of investigators then, we only watched her when she was at home. Truth is, we weren't able to watch her every hour of the day. It's possible she could've found some way to kill those criminals while she wasn't at home."

It was silent for a second before L spoke up.

"Honestly, I don't like the way this is going at all, but what choice to I have? Let's do it. I need you to fully restrain Light Yagami and place her in solitary confinement."

"What!? You can't!" Dad protested.

"You want us to confine her, seriously?" Matsuda asked.

"If we're gonna do this then it has to happen immediately. From this point on, you can't be allowed to go anywhere where I can't see you."

"This is crazy! There's no way my daughter could be Kira! My daughter's not capable of-"

"It's okay, Dad." I cut him off.

"Stop this, Light."

"Listen. Something has to be done about this. As long as I'm having these doubts, I can't work with you to catch Kira. But, Ryuzaki, promise me this, until you can say with absolute certainty that I'm not Kira, you cannot set me free. No matter what I might say or what condition I might be in."

"You have my word. Mr Yagami, can you come up with some sort of excuse for Light's absence? Something to tell your family. And please do it now." L said.

"But, this is all so sudden, what should I say? And I see no reason why she should be imprisoned."

"Let it go, Dad." I said, getting his attention before looking him in the eye. "If I don't do this, I won't be able to live with myself. Even if I wasn't having these doubts, I'd still want to do this for Misa's sake."

"But, do you really mean that?"

"Yes. I believe that by giving up my very freedom, I'll defeat this fear that Kira lurks within me."

And so, I was cuffed and blindfolded.

"Aizawa, please take her away." L said.

"Right." Aizawa sounded reluctant as he started leading me away.

"So, I guess apples are out of the question." Ryuk spoke up once we were in the cell.

"Sorry, everyone." I breathed out so quietly I hoped they wouldn't catch it.


	20. Chapter 20

I kind of lost my sense of time in there. So, I had no idea how long I'd been there when I stared asking L questions.

"Ryuzaki, talk to me. What's happening? Have any new criminals been identified? Anyone that Kira would be likely to target? If so, has he killed any of them?"

"In fact, quite a few criminals' names have been broadcast recently. But, since you've been detained, we haven't had one report of a criminal being killed by Kira."

"No one? Really?"

"Yes."

"I see. So it's only a matter of time before I'm convicted as Kira."

"What I wouldn't give for an apple." Ryuk said.

It wasn't many days later that Ryuk started having his apple withdrawal symptoms. I was exhausted though. A while later, L started talking to me while I sat on the floor. It was a real pain that my arms were constantly bound.

"Light, you've only been here for one week, but I'm sure it can't be easy. Are you feeling alright?"

I had mostly been spending my time staring at the floor and worrying about whether or not this was going to work, but hearing that voice kind of made me snap. I started giggling, then it turned into that full-blown hysterical fit that made me fall onto my side and start gasping for breath.

"You're laughing like that again?" Ryuk asked.

A couple minutes later, I calmed, my head throbbing as I somehow managed to push myself back into a sitting position. I still had a couple giggles seeping out, but nothing major.

"Ah, this weird sense of humour. It's so troublesome. Perhaps, I should just get rid of it." I said, putting emphasis on the code words.

"Huh?" The shinigami doing a handstand in the corner of the cell got himself up to stare down at me, but I was just staring straight ahead, trying to contain my residual laughter. "Got it." He left through the wall. "Later.

"Aw, crap." I muttered, feeling light-headed before everything went dark.

. . .

When I woke up, I was in the cell, but I couldn't remember why exactly I was there. However, something was telling me I might as well keep my mouth shut.

"Light, are you feeling alright?"

"I-I-I just…I don't belong here!" I yelled, confused as hell. "We're just wasting time here! I'm not Kira!"

"I promised you that I wouldn't let you out until I was convinced that you're not Kira." L responded.

"Please, L, I wasn't thinking clearly! Do you really think a serial killer like Kira could commit those crimes without being aware of them? If I have no memory of those crimes, I'm not Kira!"

"I've never been able to accept this idea that Kira has been acting without self-awareness all this time. But that doesn't change the fact that all the evidence points to you being Kira. Since we imprisoned you, Kira hasn't committed a single murder."

"I'm not Kira! There's got to be an explanation for this! You've got to let me out!"

"We can't let you out yet."

"Damn!" I hung my head.

However, only moments after this kind of deja vu feeling flooded me, I started coughing. With each cough, a memory I didn't know existed bubbled to the surface. I've never once had a pet, but in these memories I shared my home with several growing up. My family was different. No, I was a different person in those memories. But why? Why do I have someone else's memories? Why are they showing up now?

Well, that gives me something to brood over while I'm in here. Considering it doesn't seem like I'm getting out anytime soon.


	21. Chapter 21

Two weeks passed in confinement and I just kept getting more and more memories. Some of it seemed to be of a male me in the same situation, but I'm pretty sure some of those things haven't happened yet.

"Hello? Light?" L's voice reached my ears as I sat on the floor with my head between my knees.

"What?"

"You've been in here just over two weeks and not a single criminal has been punished. Now, why make this harder than it has to be? Are you ready to confess?"

"Confess? The other me…Didn't do it either." I muttered, more to myself before lifting my head and answering. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm telling you, you're wrong. I understand why you feel that way, but even if the evidence does point to me, I swear to you this is a setup! I am not Kira! Zoom in on me if you want! Go ahead, look in my eyes! You tell me, do these look like the eyes of someone who is lying?!"

After a few minutes, I sighed and stopped staring at the camera to lower my head.

"Is Misa alright?" I asked.

"She's fine." He responded vaguely.

I paused a bit longer before the weird kind-of memory came up. "Hey, L? Have we ever had a fight?"

There was no response.

"I mean, have I ever punched you?"

"No. Why are you asking?"

"No? Huh. I guess it must've been a dream." I didn't really answer his question, but he didn't say anything else.

Was I going crazy from confinement? But, punching that guy would pretty nice right about now. First he puts cameras in my room, now he's watching me here 24/7 and it's still kind of creepy. I don't even want to think about what he might've seen me do. It makes me shudder.

. . .

It was over a month since I had been confined. Pretty much all I could do at this point was lay on the floor. However, I had remembered some more things I wasn't too sure of anymore.

"Light, how are you feeling right now?" L suddenly asked.

I groaned a little as I moved my head to look more in the camera's direction. "I'm alright. Ryuzaki, I know that in the time I've been in prison no new criminals have died, however, that suggests to me that Kira is someone intimately familiar with my situation." I thought of the male version of myself and wondered if it could've been connected.

"No, Light. The reason criminals have stopped dying is because you are Kira." L replied.

"No! I'm not Kira! How many times do I have to say it?" It was getting harder to stay calm in here. I lowered my head again. "I'm not leaving here without Misa. Please shut up unless you're going to tell me how she's doing."

L did shut up, but I didn't stop muttering to myself.

"Misa…I hope you're okay. This is…So much to handle all by yourself. He's not doing the same thing to you, is he? Please let it be better for her…" I trailed off into a short bout of coughing as more memories of that male version of myself came.

This time, it wasn't the coughing that made my eyes water. It was what the memories had contained. I'm pretty sure I've gotten the full story now. A story that makes my heart wrench with worry that I've followed the same path, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind.

It wasn't too long that I was allowed to take a shower and change into a white dress shirt and some black pants before my restraints were put back on. Aizawa took me out to a tunnel to meet up with my Dad, who came in a car with Misa to pick me up.

"Light!" Misa ran out to me as soon as she was let out.

"Misa!" I responded, my eyes starting to tear up just a little at seeing her bright smile. "You're alright. Thank god." Then, I looked up at my father. "Dad, what's all this about?"

"He's your dad? Oh my god, I totally called your dad a stalker and said he was old and all kinds of other rude stuff!" Misa said, then stood up straight as my father approached us. "Pleased to meet you. My name's Misa Amane. I'm Light's best friend and I'd like to-"

"All yours, chief." Aizawa said, exchanging car keys with him as he walked past without a word.

"Let's go. Get in the car." Dad gave me a scary look, so I obeyed.

Once in the backseat with Misa and driving down the highway, I let out a relieved sigh.

"I was starting to think I'd never get out of there. And it feels good to finally be cleared."

"No." Dad spoke up. "I am afraid you two are being taken, to your execution."

"Huh?!" Misa and I both gasped and leaned forward with disbelief.

"I wanted to be the one to escort you to the execution site. It was secretly built in an underground facility not far from here."

"Wh-What?! Execution?! What the hell are you talking about?!"

"What? Is this a joke? We didn't do anything!" Misa and I started yelling in panic at the same time.

"L is convinced that you are Kira, Light. And that Misa Amane is the second Kira. He is convinced that the only way we can prevent the murders is to execute the two of you." Dad said.

"I-I don't understand! The killings have already stopped!" I replied.

"No, they never stopped." Dad replied.

"They never…That's not what he told me. So he was lying?"

"L was trying to get a confession out of you, Light. He would have said anything. But at this point, that's not the problem. It's political now. You see, L's suggestion that the killings would stop if you two were eliminated was unanimously accepted by top officials in the U.S. and the Japanese government. They want Kira to disappear. No trial, no publicity."

"But that's completely insane! Please, Dad! I'm not Kira!" I yelled.

"She's right! What kind of a father are you anyway?! This is your own daughter you're talking about!" Misa added.

"L made this decision. Not me. And his word is absolute. Over the years, he's tackled the most difficult cases, solving all of them. He's never been wrong."

"You trust L, more than your own daughter?" I asked, my voice quiet now.

"L went so far as to stake his own life on this theory. If the killing's don't stop, then he too will be executed."

That made me shut my eyes tightly and shake my head. "No! He can't do that! If he dies then who will catch Kira?! L can't die!" I tried to keep my voice from cracking, since it was dangerously close, but my mouth continued on it's own. "You can't let him do this! Dad, you can't let him just die because of this!"

"Alright, we're almost there." Dad ignored me completely as we finally got out of the tunnel.

"L…You idiot! Why?! Why does it have to be this way?!" I muttered, hanging my head as I shook it slowly now I saw one drop of water land on my pants before I wiped my face on my shoulder and we took a sharp turn that jerked everything in the car around.

I barely noticed, caught up in a panic over L's death. Is it because of that memory? No, there's some other reason I'm so worked up about it. I don't know what that is though. It makes my chest hurt so much I almost wish I couldn't breathe. I don't know why, I just know it's not from this rough road we're taking. When the car stopped, Misa and I looked around the dark area in confusion.

"Where are we right now?" I asked. "Why did you bring us out to the middle of nowhere? What is this?"

"Wait a sec! I bet he brought us out here to let us go!" Misa said hopefully.

"This will do. Looks like there's nobody around to see us out here." Dad started talking. "I decided it would be better for us if I brought you here instead of the execution site. Listen to me, I'm going to kill you here, then kill myself."

Misa and I began to panic immediately.

"What?! What are you talking about, Dad?! You can't! That's crazy!"

"How can you say that?! You'd kill your daughter for L?! If you want to die so bad, why don't you kill yourself?! If you do this, you're no different from Kira!" Misa yelled, in tears.

I was as well, to be honest.

"I am nothing like Kira! I am bound by my responsibilities as a parent and chief of the NPA."

"Dad, come on! Think of what will happen when L dies because of this?! Kira will go on doing whatever he wants! If we die here, the truth will never be revealed and, please, Dad! You have to reconsider!" I begged.

"It's too late." Dad responded, pulling out his gun. "Either way, you will be executed. At least with this, I'll be the one to do it." He pointed the gun at my forehead.

I took a couple shuddering breaths as I stared at it. "Please stop, Dad! I'm not Kira! If I die here, L will lose not only the war but his life! Kira will go on! Can't you see?!"

He pressed the gun right up to my head. "Amane, I'm going to die here with my daughter, but I have no reason to kill you. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's only a matter of time before police locate this car. Then, they'll transport you to the original sight and they'll execute you there." He cocked the gun.

I whimpered, then moved my eyes to Misa. "Run, Misa!" But she just continued to slowly shake her head and whimper, so I turned my terrified gaze back on my father.

"Light, my daughter, from one murderer to another, I'll see you in hell."

"No, Dad!" I shut my eyes tightly. "L will…!"

"No! Stop it!" Misa screamed just before the sound of the gun firing reached our ears.

I opened my eyes and stared at the smoking gun in shock. I think I was still alive, somehow.

"Y…You used a blank…" I breathed out, watching as my father lowered the gun and let out a relieved sigh.

He sat back down in his seat. "Oh, thank goodness."

"Thank…goodness?" I repeated. "What's going on? I don't understand."

"Please, forgive me, you two. I know that was hard on you, but it was the only way I could get you out of prison. You must understand. I only agreed to do this because I believe in your innocence, Light. Were you watching, Ryuzaki? I did exactly as you said, and as you can see, I'm still alive."

I noticed the camera above the rearview mirror now.

"Yes, it was a convincing performance." L said through a speaker. "If Amane were the second Kira, who only needs to see a person's face to kill them, there is no doubt she would've killed you before you had the chance to fire your weapon. Also, if Light was in fact Kira, the Kira I know wouldn't hesitate to kill even his own father to save himself. With Light in particular, I cannot rule out the possibility that she might've seen through our act at some point, however, as we agreed, I will end their confinement immediately. And, as we discussed, Amane will remain under surveillance until Kira is apprehended. Although she insists the tapes we found were just occult videos, the physical evidence we have, plus her confession suggest otherwise."

"Hey! No fair! You still suspect me?!" Misa whined.

"If I were you, I wouldn't complain. You get to go back to your normal life. If you're innocent, surveillance shouldn't be a threat to you. Think of it as complimentary police protection." Dad told her.

"Oh, I get it. Since I'm not the second Kira, it'll be kind of like having my very own private bodyguards."

"As for your part in this agreement, Light," L spoke up again. "You and I will be together 24/7 and that's how we'll remain until we've brought Kira to justice."

I stared at the camera for a few seconds before I nodded. "Fine. We'll catch Kira. Together."

"Yes. I look forward to working with you."


	22. Chapter 22

When we got back to the hotel, I was less than pleased with the arrangement L had thought up. Holding up my hand to look at the cuff around my wrist irritably, I decided to comment on it.

"Are you sure this is necessary, Ryuzaki?"

He held up his own cuffed wrist. "This is as difficult for me as it is for you."

"So, is this what you meant by being together twenty four hours a day with her? Looking at you, I never would've guessed. Do you really want to be with her that badly?" Misa teased.

"I told you, I'm not doing this because I want to, okay?" L responded to her.

"But Light is my best friend!" Misa glared at L. "I don't want to share her with you! If you're with her 24/7 then how are we supposed to hang out together?!"

"Oh, you can still hang out, but it'll have to be the three of us."

"No way!" Misa stepped back like that was the most appalling idea. "Are you telling me we have to talk about girl stuff and try on clothes in front of you?"

"I'm not telling you to do anything, but yes, I suppose I would be watching."

"That's so gross! You really are a pervert, aren't you?"

"Light, please make Misa stop talking now." L said tiredly to me.

I sighed. "I'm not too thrilled about this either, but if Dad isn't making a huge deal out of this, it'll probably be fine." I glanced at my father, who really looked like he was just holding his tongue because at least he got me out of prison. Then, I turned back to Misa. "Besides, the police have already established that it was you who sent those tapes, so you're lucky to even be here right now. They have every right to keep you in prison."

"Huh? How could you even say that, Light? In case you've forgotten, I'm your best friend! Don't you even trust me?"

"Um, you're a self-proclaimed "best friend" since we first met, but I've heard of people who got convicted solely on physical evidence like that." I pointed out.

"What? So you've just been taking advantage of me?!" She started crying, then called me stupid repeatedly while hitting my shoulder. I just sighed.

"About this "best friend" situation. It happened in Aoyama on May 22nd, didn't it?" L asked.

"So what?" Misa asked.

"Why did you chose that day to go to Aoyama? And do you remember what you wore?"

Misa turned fully toward him. "It's like I told you, I just happened to go there. I don't know why. I don't remember how I felt. And I don't even know what I was wearing. Anyway, since when do I need a reason to hang out in Aoyama? Huh?"

"And somehow, when you came back from Aoyama, you knew that you wanted to be friends with some girl and her name was Light."

"Yes."

"And you yourself have no idea how you came to know her name."

"Yeah, so what?" She got in his face.

"Tell me, what if Light was Kira? How would it make you feel?"

"Huh? How would I feel if Light was Kira?"

"That's right."

Misa gasped, then grabbed onto my arm. "That would be wonderful! I mean, I've always been grateful to Kira for punishing the man who murdered my parents, so if I found out that Light was actually Kira, that would be like a bonus for me!" She moved to completely hug me from the side. "If anything, it'd make me admire her even more! Even though it's like practically impossible to admire her even more than I already do!"

"It's Kira, though. You'd admire her even more for that? I mean, wouldn't you be afraid? What if she tried to kill you?"

"You're talking about Light being Kira?" She hugged me tighter, rubbing her cheek to mine. This physical contact was probably making me blush by now. "She wouldn't be scary at all! I'm a supporter of Kira, so if I found out my Light was actually her, I think I would be helpful!"

"Misa, please stop touching me." I muttered, but went ignored.

"That's very generous of you, but I'm pretty sure that Kira doesn't need your help. Well Misa, based on what you just told me, there can be no mistake that you are the second Kira. But you've made it so painfully obvious that I don't really want to believe it."

"Whatever! It's not believable because I'm not the second Kira, okay?" She stuck her tongue out at L.

"Anyway, for the time being, you'll remain under surveillance. When you do go out, if needed, you'll be able to contact us using this room's extension. For the most part, your life will return to normal, but from now on, for all private and work-related affairs, Mr Matsuda will be accompanying you as your new manager, Matsui."

Matsuda waved as L went on.

"Your agency's been paid to keep quiet and the police don't know. Don't blow his cover."

"This old guy's gonna be my manager? Oh, you can't be serious!" Misa complained.

"Aw, come on, Matsu isn't that bad, Misa." I said, glad she had finally let go of me as Matsuda started asking what was wrong with him.

Then, Aizawa lost it and slammed his hands on the table as he stood up. "Would you cut it out with all this girly, changing, and Misa-Misa talk already?! This is the Kira investigation! Stop messing around!"

"Sorry about that, Aizawa." Matsuda apologized.

"No, it's alright. I just figured out what the problem is." Aizawa said, walking over to us. "Misa Amane, it's time for you to go to your room."

"Why?!" She asked.

"Out you go."

"Don't-" She tried to duck under his arm, but he pushed her into the room and she instead tried to hold the door open. "Hey, Light! Let's hang out even if it is the three of us!" She called before the man managed to slam the door and lock her in that room.

"So, Light, are you that close to her?" L asked.

I shrugged. "She's more serious about the friendship than I am."

He turned to me. "Then, could you pretend to be serious for the sake of the investigation? There are two things I know about Amane for sure. One, that she's involved in this, and two, that she's very fond of you."

"You want me to pretend to be friends with her to gather information about the second Kira?"

"Yes. I think you could do it without arousing her suspicions. Amane would definitely be a valuable source of information for us. Not to mention, this is the main reason why I agreed to release the two of you."

"Ryuzaki, as much as I want to help you, and as important as the Kira case is to me, I can't lie to her like that. Please understand. To exploit a person's feelings is unforgivable to me and I won't allow myself to stoop that low." He just stared at me. "Hm? What's wrong, Ryuzaki?"

"Nothing. I suppose you're right, after all. However, considering Misa will have a lot of contact with the public, it would be helpful if you could make sure she doesn't leak information."

"By the way, do you think we could come up with some kind of alternative to this system of moving from hotel to hotel every few days?" I changed the subject.

"Yes. In fact, I've had that very same thought some time ago, and so," He started walking away, so I got dragged by the damn chain connecting our wrists. "I arranged for a facility to be built. Construction started right after my first meeting with Mr Yagami and the others." He crouched down on the chair in front of the laptop and started typing. "It should be finished in a few days…Hm…Where is it? Here it is." He showed us the design of a skyscraper. "Twenty-three floors above ground and two below. Although it's impossible to see it from the outside, there are two helicopters hidden on the roof."

"What? That's amazing!" I said, leaning on the back of the chair to look over his shoulder.

"Ideally, I want all of us to spend as much time here as possible. If the investigation team grows, we can accommodate up to sixty people. Misa shouldn't have any complaints since she'll have her own floor."

"This is truly impressive, but to go to such lengths…" I said in awe.

"Hold on a second, where'd you find the finances to build this thing?" Matsuda asked.

"As you can see, it is my intention to solve this case no matter what it takes. That's how it is." L replied.

"I'm sorry, but how is that an answer?" Aizawa asked.

"No, he's right." I said, staring at the screen seriously. "The mass killings are bad enough already, but personally, I will never forgive Kira for putting my Dad, Misa, and I through this. I want to solve this no matter what it takes."

"If you're serious about that, you should try to get close to Misa and find out about the second Kira-"

"I can't." I cut L off. "That goes against my principles."

"Right. You said that. What a shame." He sounded disappointed.

Aizawa snorted, holding back a laugh.

"Hm?" Dad looked at him.

"Uh, nothing. I'm just feeling real motivated right now, Chief." He replied. "Ryuzaki, Chief Yagami, Light, let's get out of here and bring Kira to justice."

We agreed.

"E-Excuse me, I couldn't help but notice you missed my name." Matsuda said.

"Sure, Matsui. You help too." I said with a polite smile to him.


	23. Chapter 23

I didn't sleep the first night being chained to L. I'm pretty sure he didn't either. On my end, it was pretty awkward and I usually kept as far from the guy as the chain would allow. Which was about a few feet away. It would be different if I was a guy, like in those memories, but I'm different from him. Hell, I might have a twin I never knew about hanging around somewhere and he's Kira. Still, there are a lot of feelings I don't quite have explanations for at this point. I've also noticed that, for some reason, L's life is very important to me. Misa's is too, but getting her off the hook might be difficult. I want to believe in her, but even I'm pretty convinced she's the second Kira.

By now, I was half-asleep, the only thing keeping my head up was the palm it was resting on. Then, I heard someone walk over and lazily looked up to see Matsuda.

"Hey, Light. You look exhausted. Want anything?" He asked.

"Milk." I said after staring at him for a second. He looked a little confused, but just nodded and left.

I leaned back in my chair and stretched my arms over my head, but paused when I heard a clinking noise. Well, it took me a second to remember there was a chain attached to my wrist, but when I did, I crossed my arms and looked over at the person at the other end of the chain. It was kind of creepy to find him staring at me.

"What?" I asked, doing my best to keep a blank face.

"If you're trying to stay awake, it's better to drink coffee."

"I hate coffee." I responded bitterly. "I only drink a certain kind from a certain place, but it doesn't exist here." After I said it, my face screwed up in confusion.

Wait. Light Yagami has never been to Canada. How would I know what the coffee from that place tastes like? Oh, that's right. Those memories of being a different person. I guess some traits carried over.

"Here you go." Matsuda said, setting down a glass of milk in front of me as I yawned.

"Thanks." I responded, taking a sip.

I also asked for milk because in that other life, I drank milk every morning when I got up. Now I see why I'm not the same as I had been before. I hadn't incorporated a past personality into this personality like I have been since I remembered it.

I looked around the room and found Matsuda had left, but the other three had fallen asleep. So, I guess that leaves me and L.

"There's something I want to ask you." L spoke up suddenly, making me turn to him curiously.

"Hm?"

"Even though you claim not to be very close to Amane, when you were in confinement, you seemed very concerned about her condition. Also, when your father said he wouldn't kill her, you told her to run. Why don't you consider her a close friend then?"

I lowered my head, my tired mind slowly processing what he was saying. "I…I just feel like I should be looking out for her. She trusts me and I…I don't want to let anyone down…" I responded slowly, unsure why I couldn't even look at him or why my chest was tightening in that painful way regret can. I wish I knew why.

L didn't respond for a second, but then suddenly changed the subject. "After your father mentioned that I would be executed if you were not Kira, you seemed to be more concerned about that than your own death. Why?"

"Why?" I repeated, hesitating as my mind blanked. "Why was that…?" I mumbled, then a flash of seeing L die from a heart attack flashed through my mind and I dug my fingers into my upper arms as I bit my lip. "Because…Then you would die…And Kira wouldn't be caught."

"I see. That behaviour does not fit Kira at all."

"Huh?"

"Kira's priority would be preserving himself, not others."

I stared at him for a second as he slurped his coffee, then held up an arm to jingle the chain. "Then is this really necessary?"

"Yes. It is just as inconvenient for you as it is for me."

I sighed and slumped back in my seat. "I guess I'll have to figure out a way to sleep then…" I muttered to myself.


	24. Chapter 24

I ended up failing to figure out a way to sleep unless I just passed out. Of course, it was pretty much the same when we got to the new building. I had asked Dad to get me some things from home, considering I couldn't go, but other than that stuff, I had made a list for Watari to get me. Now, there was just one more thing I needed, so I asked to talk to Misa for a minute.

"Light? Are you feeling alright?" Misa asked, staring at me. She hadn't seen me the last couple of days, so I probably look like a zombie by now.

"I'm fine. I actually wanted to ask you something." I glanced over my shoulder at the only other person in the room, then motioned for Misa to lean in so I could whisper to her. "Could you get me something when you go out? I need…" I whispered even quieter after that, feeling pretty damn embarrassed that I had to ask anyone.

"Oh, I see. No problem!" She smiled at me and nodded when we both leaned away again.

"Thanks. I owe you." I said gratefully.

"What did you tell her?" L decided to butt in.

"I just asked her to get me something." I responded, not turning to look at him.

"Watari can take care of anything you may need."

"I don't really want to bother him with this one."

"What is it?"

"I…Don't really want to disclose that information." I fidgeted.

"I could just review the footage and enhance the audio until I find out." He responded dully.

"F-Fine." I crossed my arms and stared at the floor. "I asked her to get me some pads. There, are you satisfied?"

"Oh, Light! You didn't have to tell him!" Misa said, apparently feeling for me as she hugged me and started petting my head for some reason. "You're such a pervert!" She snapped at L, letting me go.

Being in this situation is a lot more complicated when you're female. I'm pretty sure that male version of me wouldn't have stupid problems like this.

. . .

It was not too long after that Misa insisted we hung out. So, I ended up sitting on her horrendously pink couch as L crouched beside me and ate cake. I had finished mine earlier, but Misa hadn't touched hers from where she was sitting on the couch across from us. I was leaned back in my seat, wishing I would've brought a game to play since this was boring and awkward so far. Misa didn't seem too pleased with the situation either, but for a different reason.

"Man, this has got to be the lamest "girl time" I've ever had." She complained.

"No, no, no, please, just pretend I'm not even here, okay?" L said with a fork in his mouth, then pointed at her cake. "By the way, are you gonna eat that piece of cake?"

"Cake makes you fat. I'm not going to eat any." Misa replied.

"Actually, I've found that you don't gain any weight as long as you burn calories by using your brain."

"Hmph! So now you're calling me stupid?! Fine then, I'll give you the piece of cake as long as you agree to leave me and Light alone!"

"Even if I leave you two alone, I'm still gonna be watching on surveillance cameras, so it wouldn't make any difference."

"You pervert! Could you stop it with your creepy hobby?!"

"You can call me whatever you like. Last chance for cake!" He said, stepping on the table to grab the cake and then go back to crouching. I, of course, had to move my arm with the chain attached to accommodate his movement.

"Okay, then. I'll just close the curtains, turn off the lights, and we'll whisper!"

"We have infrared cameras in here as well."

Misa pouted at him as I turned to look at him.

"What's wrong with you? I thought moving here was supposed to help us catch Kira, but since we've been here, you don't seem all that motivated to me."

"Not motivated?" He repeated. "You're right. Actually, I'm depressed."

"Depressed? What for?"

"Well," He put some of the cake in his mouth before continuing. "Truthfully, all this time I thought that you were Kira and my entire case hinged on that fact. I guess I just can't get past the fact that my deduction was wrong. Although, having said that, I'm still suspicious of you. That's why we're wearing these." He lifted his cuffed wrist and jingled the chain. "And we also know that Kira can control people's actions. Which means, it's highly likely that Kira was controlling your actions so that I would suspect you. If I had assumed that both you and Misa were being controlled by him, then everything we've observed so far makes a lot more sense to me."

"If that's what you think, Misa and I were both Kira during the time that we were being controlled, right?"

"Yes. I don't think I could've been wrong about that. The two of you, are Kira. If what I'm thinking is correct, when your confinement began, you were Kira. I don't believe it's coincidence that as soon as you were imprisoned all the killing stopped. Until then, everything pointed to you being Kira. But after two weeks, criminals actually began dying again. Based on that evidence, I can only conclude that Kira's power passes between people."

"That's an interesting idea, but if it's true, it'll be nearly impossible for us to catch Kira."

"Yes. That's why I'm overwhelmed. Even if we catch someone under his control, they'll likely lose their powers and any memory of their crimes, so in the end, pursuing them becomes futile."

"But at this point, we have no way of knowing if that's the case. Cheer up, would ya?"

"Cheer up? No, I'm sorry. I can't. It's probably better if I just stop trying so hard. By chasing Kira so desperately we're just putting our lives at risk for nothing. Yes, it's just a waste of time."

I'm pretty sure that was the last straw. I stood up, getting ready, then I spoke.

"Ryuzaki,"

"Huh?" He looked at me and I released the strongest punch I could manage.

Unfortunately, that knocked over a bunch of stuff, and pulled me along with him because of the chain. He sat up and looked at me.

"You know, that really hurt."

"That's enough! You don't feel like doing anything just because your genius deduction was wrong and I'm not Kira?" I snapped angrily at him.

"Fine. Perhaps I phrased that the wrong way. I meant it would be pointless for us to make a move, so we shouldn't even bother."

"If we don't chase Kira, he'll never be caught! Is that what you want?!" I yelled, starting to approach him. "If you were just going to give up, then why did you involve all those innocent people?!" I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up, not quite registering the surprise that I was actually capable of that. "And more importantly, what was the point of putting Misa and me behind bars?!"

"I understand. But still, whatever the reason," He pulled himself away from me and literally kicked me in the face, sending me flying backwards now. "An eye for an eye, my friend."

I can't believe he actually did that to a girl. Not that I'm mad, I deserve it, it's just that most people would have a problem with actually doing it.

We fell onto the couch, knocking it over onto it's back as Misa gasped. We both sat up and glared at each other.

"It's not my deduction that was wrong. The fact is, I can say that Light Yagami is Kira and Misa Amane is the second Kira, but it won't be enough to solve the case and that's why I'm a little depressed. Is that so unreasonable?"

"Yes. Yes, it is. Besides, you should hear yourself! It's as if you won't be satisfied unless I am Kira!" I responded, feeling that pain tighten in my chest.

"I won't be satisfied unless you're Kira. Well, there may be some truth to that. In fact, now that you mention it, you're right. I think I wanted you to be Kira."

I threw another punch, but this time he didn't fall.

"As I said before, an eye for an eye." He responded with my fist still in his face. "I'm a lot stronger than I look, you know."

And he kicked me, but I didn't fall this time, instead, I used the chain to pull him back and grab his shirt again.

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." I said in a dangerously quiet tone as I reared up to throw another punch. He had grabbed onto my shirt and done the same when we heard the phone ringing and stopped. L went to pick it up.

"Yes?" He listened for a minute. "Oh, I see." He listened a little more, then dropped the phone to hang it up.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Matsuda's acting stupid again." He kind of sighed.

"Well, that is his specialty." I replied, straightening out my hoodie now that I had noticed how much it had ridden up.

"Light! Are you okay?" Misa asked, tentatively touching the bruise that was no doubt forming on my face, causing me to cringe and bat her hands away. She whirled on L. "I can't believe you would hit a girl!"

"Misa, it doesn't matter if I'm a girl." I said, rubbing at my cheek as I smirked at the man who just stared boredly at her. "I deserved that just as much as he did. Now, what do you say we actually get some work done?"


	25. Chapter 25

I was typing away on a computer for a good while now while L just crouched backwards in his chair, more or less peaking over the back.

"Ryuzaki, I know you're not feeling up to it, but come over here for a second." I said, so he slid his chair over to look at what I'd found. "Take a look at this. It can't be a coincidence."

"Huh?"

"All of them were prominent Japanese businessmen. CEO's whose companies are leaders in their respective industries. In just over a month, they've all died of heart attacks. As expected, there's been a general down-turn in the market, with the exception of Yotsuba. In other words, their deaths have worked in Yotsuba's favour. Looking back, there have been thirteen similar deaths in the past three months. Your thoughts? Based on this, I can only conclude that Kira is supporting Yotsuba."

"Could be. But if what you're saying is true, we can assume that punishing criminals is not this Kira's real intent."

"Right. Punishing criminals is a diversion for him. It obscures the fact that he's actually killing people for the benefit of his company." I smiled and looked at L. "Are you feeling a bit more motivated now?"

Well, after getting L motivated, I decided I was more than overdue for a gaming break. L said fifteen minutes, but he didn't say anything when I was pushing an hour. Instead, it was Aizawa who yelled at me.

"Why don't you do some work?!"

"I'm saving Tokyo right now." I responded absently, continuing to play my turn-based RPG.

"That's just a game! We have a real world you could be helping!" He yelled.

I sighed, saving and turning off the game before setting it down and slowly turning to Aizawa.

"I found out Kira's connected to Yotsuba, so why don't you just let me play one game to make up for all that time I was picking up his slack, huh?" I asked, motioning to L.

He was about to continue chewing me out when Dad and Mogi walked in.

"Chief, Mogi! I've got some great news! This is amazing! I'm not even sure how she figured it out, but Light has a theory that Kira is somehow involved with the Yotsuba group." Matsuda told them. "Can you believe it?"

"Yotsuba?" Dad asked.

"Yes."

Dad put a hand on Matsuda's shoulder. "That's probably it. Good work."

"Huh?" Matsuda seemed a bit surprised by the praise.

"We just spoke to the director and it seems Kira's offered bribes to a number of politicians." Dad said. "So, that's that. The police caved into him."

"Huh?" A collective surprise got me on my feet.

"Mogi and I have already made up our minds on this." Dad continued. "Aizawa, Matsuda, if you wish to continue working this case, you'll have to hand in your letter of resignation to the NPA, just as Mogi and I are going to do. Like it or not, you cannot pursue Kira as a member of the police force anymore."

"H-Hold on a second, Chief." Aizawa started.

"They made it quite clear. If you continue to work with L, you'll be fired. That's all there is to it."

"So then, Chief, you're gonna…" Matsuda said.

"In a few hours, I'm no longer going to be your chief. However, we all have our own lives. So think it over carefully."

"That's true, chief. Especially if you've got a family to support."

"If you want my opinion, you'd be better off as police officers." L said, his back to them. "I was alone when I started this case. And although I am grateful to all of you for staying with me as long as you have, I know that I can do this by myself. I'll be sure to visit you at the department and bring you Kira's head as a reward for all you've sacrificed."

"Ryuzaki, as long as I'm alive, you won't be working alone. You have my word on that." I told him, although my chest constricted painfully for some reason. Why does that keep happening?

"That's right. I'll have Light working with me until I catch Kira, so I won't be alone after all. But as I said, I think the rest of you should remain as police officers."

"But when you first contacted us, you said that you would need the help of the police in order to solve this case." Dad said.

"That's because the police as an organization were still hoping to arrest Kira. They weren't bowing to him. Besides, with all due respect, there's a big difference between the help of two or three civilians and the police as an organization." He ate some cherries. "And as you said, the police have made it clear they don't want to catch Kira, so let's just leave it at that."

"Well, I suppose what you're saying makes sense. If we're not police officers anymore we won't be of much use to you. However, we're all personally involved in this. All of us have risked our lives to catch Kira. Doesn't that give us, the right to decide whether we stay here or return to the police force?" Dad said with determination.

L took a tied cherry stem out of his mouth and I had to hold back a laugh at how unfitting his behaviour could be. "Good point. Then, by all means, please make your decision." He didn't sound interested at all.

"But chief, wait." Aizawa spoke up again. "If you quit your job with the police force you'll be unemployed. Even if we do catch Kira, what are you gonna do after that?"

"After that? I hadn't really thought of it." Dad responded. "But I suppose after we catch Kira, I'll have to dust off my resume." He smiled.

"Count me in! I'm gonna quit the police and chase Kira too, chief!" Matsuda said. "And I still have my job as Misa-Misa's manager. Besides, if I stayed-"

"Matsuda, stop talking and think about it." I called, looking at Aizawa's back as I remembered what was going to happen now. Well, if it was anything like the male version of me's story that I saw.

"Is there any way I could still keep my job and help you in my spare time?" Aizawa asked L.

"There isn't. If you remain a police officer, then please don't come back here."

"But you know I won't leak any information-"

"I won't be sharing any of our information." L responded coldly. "You're free to pursue Kira on your own, if you want to. But I don't think it's fair to your families to burden them by giving up your livelihood just to continue this. I can't see how that's a good idea."

"It's as Ryuzaki says. No one here is going to blame you for quitting." Dad said.

"Yeah. Right. We all understand why you gotta do this." Matsuda said.

"But the chief has a family too." Aizawa said.

"Our situations are completely different." Dad told him as I turned and sat back down in my chair.

I picked up my game system and tuned out Aizawa's yelling. But, before I could turn on my game, a "w" appeared on the screens and Watari started talking.

"Ryuzaki, earlier in the investigation, you specifically told me that if a Task Force member were to lose their job under any circumstances, I should make preparations to ensure that their family's financial future was secure. If you recall, a trust was set aside for that very purpose. I'm a little curious as to why you're withholding this information."

Ah, that old man had a heart of gold. I smiled at the screen and watched L out of the corner of my eye.

"This is not the time or place, Watari." L seemed annoyed, but didn't really change at all.

"I'm sorry."

"No way! So all this time, we had nothing to worry about?" Matsuda speaking up made L's face go sour. "I can't believe you did that! There you go, Aizawa! Isn't that great news?"

"Ryuzaki," Aizawa sounded pissed. "I assume that was some kind of test to determine how committed I was to this Task Force."

"I-It's not like that, Aizawa." Dad jumped in to try and defuse the situation. "Ryuzaki's just not the type to say things directly, you should know that by now."

"Yeah, that's right." Matsuda said.

"No." L spoke up. "I was testing you. I wanted to see which one you would chose."

"Ryuzaki," Dad said.

"Fine then." Aizawa sounded even more pissed now. "If I wasn't sure before, I am now."

"But, Aizawa-" Matsuda tried.

"Let's face it, I wasn't able to decide right away like you guys. I was leaning towards going back to the police."

"Come on, Aizawa. Don't be so stubborn-"

"No! I quit! Now I know this for sure. I've always hated Ryuzaki. I hate him and his way of doing things!" I heard Aizawa turn to leave.

"That's too bad. Because I like you, Aizawa." L said.

"I also hate the way you've always gotta have the last word! You insult me, now you say something like that?! That's it, I'm outta here!"

"Thank you for everything."

Once Aizawa left, I looked at L out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn't see his face. So, I looked back at the blank screen of the game system I was holding and turned it on. I didn't need to be apart of that.


	26. Chapter 26

"I just found another one. A general manager of a bank, Yotsuba's biggest competitor. On September 7th, he slipped and fell on the front steps of his house and died. Instantly." I said, doing some work again for once.

"September the seventh was a Friday, wasn't it?" Dad asked.

"Friday?" I repeated as all of us looked at him.

"After going over this again, I noticed something. All the deaths which are beneficial to Yotsuba are concentrated around the weekends."

"Huh? On the weekends?" Matsuda asked.

"With the first few victims, the time of death appears to have been random. More recently, they take place between Friday night and Saturday afternoon."

"I'm amazed that you even noticed that, chief." Matsuda said.

"Matsuda, I thought I told you to stop calling me chief."

"I'm sorry, but you'll always be the chief to me."

"This is a really important clue, Dad. Nice work." I said with a smile.

"Well, you know, I can't let myself fall behind you and Ryuzaki. After all, the last thing I want is to be dead weight." Dad replied.

"Dead weight?" Matsuda repeated.

"Is Kira someone from Yotsuba? Or is Kira simply using Yotsuba? I haven't figured that out yet, but we'll proceed under the assumption that this is Kira's doing. We will focus on Yotsuba." L said.

"This is all of the Yotsuba Group's employees." Mogi said, bringing over a huge stack of paper. "Here."

"Thank you very much." L said, taking it to shift in front of him.

"That's three hundred thousand people. How did he put this together so quickly? That's amazing, Mogi!" I said, looking after the man of few words.

"He's been incredibly efficient from the start." L responded.

"Ryuzaki, please tell me, is there anything I can do to help with the investigation?" Matsuda stood up and asked. "Besides the manager thing."

"So, you really wanna be useful?" L asked him.

"Yes!"

"Then, could you get me another cup of coffee?"

"Oh, hot chocolate for me." I added when Matsuda looked surprised, then I turned around to look at the two standing in the room over the back of my chair. "You guys want something?"

"And for our guests over there as well." L told Matsuda.

"Who are they?" Matsuda asked in surprise.

"Those two are the newest members of the Task Force." L stated.

The two got up from the couch to introduce themselves.

"The name's Aiber. I'm a conman. How's it going?" The man said.

"I'm Wedy. And I'm a thief by trade." The woman stated boredly.

"Oh. A conman and a thief." Dad said as I stood up to face them.

"That's right. Aiber is a lifelong conman. His unparalleled social skills allow him to befriend and gain the trust of any target. We'll use him for infiltration. As for Wedy, she's a thief who specializes in cracking high-end security systems. As proof of that, she was able to enter the building without setting off a single alarm." L explained.

"You expect us to work with criminals?" Dad asked.

"Yes, that is correct. However, these two have never once been caught, so it's unlikely they'll be killed by Kira. Think of them as professionals of the underworld."

"I understand. To investigate Yotsuba, we're going to need the help of people like this." I said, then turned to the two with a smile. "Let's all do our part and make this happen, right?"

"Yeah." Matusda agreed.

"Oh, yeah." Dad wasn't as enthused by the idea.

. . .

L never sleeps. I'm pretty damn convinced that either he never sleeps, or he only falls asleep when he knows I won't see him. However, today, sitting on a desk chair with my knees to my chest and my arms holding a blanket wrapped around me, I was determined to find out if what Matsuda said was true. However, that also meant I did little in the way of work and stared at the side of the man's face for lengthy periods of time. Still, it was a while before it seemed to start getting to him.

"Light," He said in his usual dull tone without looking at me. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." I responded, although it was pretty obvious I was staring at him by now.

"You've been staring at me for forty-three minutes now." He pointed out.

"So?"

He probably would've sighed, but I don't think he actually does it out loud often. So, I ended up sighing as well and deciding I might as well just be up-front about it.

"Do you ever sleep?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"I don't think I've ever seen you sleep. Even with this arrangement." I said, holding up my cuffed arm even though it was still hidden inside my blanket.

"Maybe you just weren't paying attention." He replied disinterestedly. "Now, if that was all, could you please get back to work?"

"Don't wanna." I responded, not letting up on the staring just yet.

"Wasn't it you who vowed to find Kira? Do you not think you should do at least a little work?"

"I will. These things take time. I'm processing information as we speak."

"Is that information regarding the Kira case?" He looked out of the corner of his eye at me, so I turned to face the computer.

"…Possibly." I looked out of the corner of my eye and he looked like he was going to say something to me that he has said to Matsuda. "A-Anyway, I've been thinking about the previous Kiras. Well, me and Misa, if we go with your theory."

"I hardly think that matters right now."

"No, it does. If Kira's controlling people, then why is this new one deviating from just killing criminals? Not to mention that the second Kira had their own agenda as well. Also, the second Kira and the real Kira existed at the same time, right? So if it truly was something that controlled the victims would there really be that conscious part of what they're doing? Like this Kira and the second Kira had acted on things they were probably conscious of acting on?" I stopped, then shook my head. "Nah, it's not really important when we still don't know how they're killing. I wonder if it's some kind of psychic power or if it's something else."

L didn't reply, but I didn't even look at him as I started getting swallowed by my thoughts.

"Hey, assuming Kira was some kind of psychic, do you think his intention was really to kill L? I mean, the basis for that assumption is the death of Lind L. Taylor, right? But what if Kira knew that was a criminal?"

"That's highly unlikely. Kira also killed the FBI agents, which made us think that he would target anyone who chases him." He paused. "Unless…You're suggesting Kira had some other motive in killing them?"

I mulled it over for a few minutes. I was still uncertain, but I decided to voice my theory anyway. "What if…Kira's intention wasn't to get rid of a threat, but rather to create a rift between L and the police? If the FBI agents were killed, the people they were investigating probably would've found out sooner…" I shook my head. "No, all of this is getting nowhere. We can speculate all we want, the only way to find out what Kira's intention really is would be to ask him directly."

"I've tried that." L's tone was a bit dejected.

"I'm pretty sure you don't know who the original Kira is at this point." I responded, looking out of the corner of my eye at him as he turned to face me.

"What I find strange is that you were never concerned with proving your innocence."

"I've got nothing to prove. It's only a matter of time before you see that." I replied, swiping a chocolate from the box sitting in front of him and finally deciding to get back to work.


	27. Chapter 27

I watched out of the corner of my eye, waiting patiently until L reached for one of his snacks, then yanked my left wrist to make him miss the mark. I had caught him by surprise this time, but I'm sure next time he'll be able to resist. Of course, he was, but I'm pretty sure it didn't annoy him any less just because he was able to resist the tug of the chain. He looked out of the corner of his eye at me.

"What are you doing now?" He asked in that flat tone that told me I was annoying him again.

"My game died." I responded, motioning to my game console that was sitting on the desk.

"Then get back to work."

I sighed. "When's Friday?"

"It's today, why?"

"Then I don't have to work."

"You don't get days off." He responded blankly. "Even though you take frequent breaks to waste not only your own time, but mine as well."

"Nope. I don't have to do anything today because if I'm right, this will be the day we make a break in the case." I replied, leaning back in my chair and putting my arms behind my head.

Before he could reply to me, Dad walked in and started talking to Mogi, who had probably been sitting there the entire time I've been annoying L, I just never really noticed.

"Alright, for the time being, I want you to start going over this list here."

"Yes, sir. Right away."

I ended up leaning my elbow on the desk and kind of spacing out by staring at L, who was about to eat some cake. I wonder if it is unreasonable to say that it's very possible I could be just like that male version of myself that I've seen in those memories. Would I really kill criminals just because I had the power to do so? A better question would probably be whether or not I would truly want to kill L if I were Kira. However, seeing as right now was around the time I would have lost my memories regarding the entire thing, I can't say for certain that I was never Kira to begin with. There's no way I could kill so many people and not remember, right?

"What's wrong? You've been staring at me for the last two minutes." L decided to get me out of my own head. "Wait, let me guess. You must be annoyed because I'm the only one eating cake at the moment, am I right?"

"Yeah, kind of." I couldn't stop the half-smile from reaching my face, but it faded as I remembered what would happen soon.

"Here." He held it out to me.

"Thanks." I decided to take it as I got up, considering I must've looked pretty upset if he's offering me his cake. "Oh, right, here." I said, going to his other side and putting a phone over closer to him before going back to my seat.

"Hm? I don't have any calls to make." He said, looking at it strangely.

"I just figure we should keep that out a while." I shrugged and leaned over to swipe his fork. "Thanks for the cake."

Just as I started eating it, the computer beeped and Watari had something to say.

"Ryuzaki,"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Detective Elraldo Coil has just received a private request to investigate and reveal the identity of L."

I slid my chair over as Dad and Mogi walked over to see as well.

"Isn't Elraldo Coil supposed to be the second greatest detective in the world? After L himself?" Dad asked.

"Elraldo, huh?" I muttered, smirking knowingly, but trying to hide it by shoving more cake in my mouth.

"Who on earth would send such a request?" Dad asked.

The screen changed to show us a man as Watari talked.

"The man who sought out Coil's services was Maiseiko Kida, the head of the rights and planning department of the Yotsuba Group's headquarters in Tokyo."

"So it is Yotsuba." Dad said.

"We know that Yotsuba must be linked to Kira," I started, setting down the half-finished plate of cake and leaning back in my chair. "If they're trying to find out L's identity, it's probably because they want to kill him and need that information to do it."

"This isn't good. We're already short-handed enough as it is and now we have to worry about Coil too." Dad said.

"It's quite alright. The detective known as Elraldo Coil is me." L spoke up. "It's quite simple, really. Three of the greatest detectives in the world. L, Coil, and Deneurve, they're all actually me. It's been my experience that people who try to find me usually fall for this." L said, picking up the untouched strawberry from the plate of cake and offering it to Mogi. "I'll give you this strawberry if you keep it a secret, okay?"

I had to try really hard not to laugh when Mogi actually took it and put it in his pocket.

"I'm impressed as always, Ryuzaki." I said, my voice straining from holding back my laughter.

So, picking the plate of cake back up, I decided to try and drown my laughter with food while L called in Aiber and Wedy and started forming a plan.

"Alright, I just have to get close to him, right? Leave it to me." Aiber said.

"And, you want me to make sure that we're able to breach the security and override the surveillance cameras in Yotsuba's head office? Is that all?" Wedy asked.

"Yes. At this point, it's safe to assume that Kira and the Yotsuba Group are connected in some way. We're going to investigate Yotsuba to determine who holds Kira's power. And if there's more than one person who possesses this ability. We need a clear understanding, quickly." L said.

I checked my watch. It should be soon now if I'm right. I don't know an exact time, but the sun was setting when Matsuda went there before.

"We cannot let anyone from Yotsuba figure out that we are investigating them. Please realize that if they do know this, it means that we won't be able to catch Kira."

I just waited for Watari to chime in.

"Please be sure not to act impulsively, out of panic or haste. And don't take matters into your own hands." L said just before a beep came from the computer behind him.

"Ryuzaki," Watari said.

"Yes? What is it?"

"I have just received an emergency signal from Matsuda's belt."

"Oh, where is he?"

"It seems…That it's coming from within the head office of the Yotsuba Group."

I just smirked and shoved the last piece of cake in my mouth as L seemed to be pretty tired when he spoke again.

"Disregard everything I just said. We'll need to rethink our strategy." He turned back around from the computer with a sort of sigh. "Matsuda, you idiot." He seemed kind of mad, actually.

So, L took the cell phone I had placed near him and called Matsuda.

"Yo, Matsui!" He started talking in a strange, kind of laid back voice when Matsuda answered. "It's me, Asahi! Been a while, buddy." He waited for the response before talking again. "Yeah, it doesn't sound like you're out right now. Don't tell me you're home already?" He paused again. "So, you by yourself?" He paused yet again before covering the phone and turning to us. "He's not with Misa Amane right now. Matsuda must be on his own."

Dad and I nodded before L went back to the phone.

"So, do you wanna go out like drinking tonight?" He paused, then continued. "Aw, what's'a matter? Don't tell me your wallet is in trouble again." He listened, then covered the phone and turned back to us. "Matsuda's saying he's in big trouble." He told us before going back to the phone. "That's too bad. Guess I'll drag you out some other time, alright? See ya, buddy." L hung up the phone.

I tried calling Misa's cell phone, but had no luck. Hanging up, I couldn't help but worry a little about those two.

"Misa's cell phone's on voicemail right now." I said. "I left her a message and told her to get back to me as soon as she can."

"What're you planning to do, Ryuzaki?" Dad asked.

"Well, we have to consider that if Matsuda dies, our suspicions about the Yotsuba Group will be confirmed." L paused. "Let's just watch the situation for the time being."

In the meantime, my worry was drowned in another piece of cake, which I asked Mogi to bring me considering L didn't seem like he was going to move. It was chocolate this time though. No strawberries. I was just taking my third bite when my cell phone rang.

"Misa?" I answered it with my mouth full.

"Light! I'm sorry I've been working so much. I'll be finished soon, 'kay?" She said.

"Misa, you're not with Matsuda at the moment, are you?" I asked.

"Him? He's a total jerk. He just ran off and left me here." She sounded angry. "Oh, hang on. I'm getting a call on my work phone. Oh hey, it's from Matsu!"

"Misa's just received a call from Matsuda." I told the others.

"Tell her to hold her phone so that we can listen in as well." L said.

I nodded, telling Misa that, then listening to the call through the phone that I held out in the middle of all of us.

"Misa-Misa! When you're finished, come over to the Yotsuba Group head office! It's still tentative, but there's still a chance that you might be able to appear in Yotsuba's commercials! We're working it out now." Matsuda said.

"What? Are you for real?! You're amazing Matsu!" Misa gushed. "So that's what you've been up to all this time! Don't worry, we're wrapping up soon."

"Great. It's just a short trip by taxi." Matsuda said.

L grabbed onto my sleeve near the cuff, making me look at him after hanging up the phone. "Huh?"

"Listen to me, Light, there is a chance that we may be able to save Matsuda. But we won't be able to do it without Misa's help. She'll listen to you and do anything you say, won't she?" He said quietly.

I just stared at him.

. . .

It was a few hours later that we were sitting and watching the "special reception" for the Yotsuba Group in Misa's apartment.

"Well, well. Misa's pretty good at this sort of thing." L commented.

"Well, it is what she does for a living." I responded.

Shortly after, Matsuda went to the bathroom and called L.

"Ryuzaki, are you watching this?"

"Yes."

"L-Look, I'm really sorry that I-"

"That's not important right now." L responded.

"Okay. Listen, the eight men who came here were having a meeting to determine who they'd get Kira to kill for them. I heard them say it clearly. There's no doubt they're behind this."

"Yes, that is probably true. But if you did overhear them and they caught you, then they'll almost certainly be trying to kill you now."

"I know. Do you think there's anything I can do to try and save myself?"

"Well, luckily you're still alive, so we may be able to save you. But for that to happen, you will have to die before they can kill you."

"What?!"

"I want you to listen to me very carefully." L said, explaining to Matsuda exactly what we intend to do.

"No way. But that's…" Matsuda was in a state of disbelief. "That's crazy."

Of course, it was also what we ended up doing.

Unfortunately, I couldn't watch the show Matsu put on, considering I had to go put on the rescue worker uniform with L. After that, we had to go get in an ambulance and wait until we had to go pick up Aiber in a body bag, throw him on a stretcher, and get him in said ambulance before anyone realized he wasn't a dead body.

"While I'm aware of the fact that we're short-handed, I'm not very pleased about having to do this sort of thing myself." L commented as we sat in the back of the ambulance with Aiber. "Matsuda, you idiot."

"All's well that ends well, I guess." I shrugged, leaning back in my seat.

"You knew this would happen, didn't you?" L had apparently decided to confront me about it.

"Why do you say that?" I decided to act innocent.

"Not working, getting that phone ready, and you seemed unfazed by the entire situation. As if you knew it would all work out." He was looking at me suspiciously now. "Light, how did you know Matsuda would do this? And why didn't you just tell me before we had to go through all this trouble to save him?"

I shrugged, looking at the door rather than him. "Who knows?"


	28. Chapter 28

Over the next week, when L wasn't focused on the case, he seemed to be brooding over something. I never asked, since I was kind of scared to, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least curious. I had my own things to think about anyway. Mostly the fact that I remembered that those memories of a male version of myself in the same situation was actually made up in that version of reality. It was hard to accept, but it made me begin questioning if anything here is even real. Still, I started to work more, but mostly because I hadn't gotten many chances to go search for my charger so my game was dead most of the time anyway. Now, Wedy had called to report on the Yotsuba Group's security.

"L, are you listening? I am so disappointed. I thought this would be a challenge. The security level here is a joke. They've left it all to a single contractor. There weren't even any wire tap detectors." She didn't sound happy at all.

"It's been about a week since I first snuck into the place. It looks like things have been moving pretty smoothly since then, huh?" Matsuda asked.

"We've almost got them." I said, also pretty happy.

"So, one of these people," L paused to eat whatever kind of sweet it was he had in front of him now. "is Kira."

"Well then, now that everyone's here, let's commence our regular meeting." One of the men sitting in the meeting room on the big screen in front of us said.

"But if there are supposed to be eight, why are there only seven?" Dad asked, seeing the empty spot in the circle.

"That must mean that…" I started.

"They probably killed one of their members." L said.

"In order to further the growth of the Yotsuba Group and best serve its financial interests, who should we kill next?" The bald man asked.

Well, he certainly doesn't beat around the bush, does he?

"You see, it's just like I told you last week!" Matsuda said.

"This is not good. At this rate…" L started muttering.

"But before we get to that, there are several topics that we need to discuss. First, there is the issue of Hatori's death." The bald one continued.

"That was unavoidable." The long black-haired man spoke up. "To be honest, in a certain sense, I am relieved that Hatori is dead. Kira has demonstrated that we must be committed to these meetings. We now know what will happen if we try to leave."

"I think we all understand what Hatori's death means for the rest of us. Let's not take it lightly." The bald one said. "Now, moving on. Our next topic is Elraldo Coil's report."

"One of their members just died and that's all they're going to say?" Dad asked.

"So, did we really pay five million dollars for this report?" The guy I recognized as the Kira of the group asked, hitting the paper. "I mean, come on, look at this! He hasn't found out anything important about L, like his name or his face. Is this Coil guy seriously gonna be of any use to us?"

"Hold on a second." Baldy spoke up again. "There is something very interesting in the last part of this report. Coil's warning us that we can't afford to take L's existence too lightly. In particular, it says the concentration of killings that are beneficial to Yotsuba will likely be noticed by L if they continue on Fridays and Saturdays."

"Sounds like this Elraldo Coil has found out what we've been up to." Another of the men spoke. "I admit it's quite impressive. At any rate, I personally think we should stop killing every weekend."

"This is unbelievable. It's like they're trying to confess to everything." Matsuda said.

"Hm. As long as we have this video as evidence, we could probably arrest all seven of them." Dad said.

The chain rattled as L pressed his thumb to his lip.

"Kira hasn't been flexible up 'til now, has he? It would be nice if he could spread out his killings over the whole week." The one I recognized said.

"The fact that Coil noticed what we've been up to makes it too dangerous to continue killing at our usual pace. From now on we have to be even more careful and make sure that nobody else has noticed a trend in these deaths."

"Now, on to the main topic. Who should we kill?" Baldy said.

"I think we should focus on ELF Insurance. If they expanded the Japanese market, Yotsuba and many other companies will lose valuable clients to them."

"Agreed. Alright, any objections to killing these people from ELF with accidental deaths?"

"No objections." They said in unison.

"Is this for real? How can they do this so easily?" I asked, still not able to get over the corruption of these businessmen.

"Another potential candidate is Santaro Zenzai, a member of the Kirisawa Group. He's been protesting Yotsuba's pro-development plans. Zenzai's known to have high blood pressure, so we can designate a time for him to have a stroke resulting in natural death. Any objections?"

"No objections."

"Kira? Deaths by accident? By disease? Designated times of death? It's all just as we suspected. We were right." I said, although I wasn't very enthusiastic about it, like I remember the male version of me being.

"No, unfortunately, we can only be completely sure after those people they've named are dead." L replied. "We will continue to monitor these meetings and take note of what they say, how they act, and most importantly, whether the people they choose actually die. If we can confirm the connection between their plans and the deaths, then we'll definitely be able to catch Kira." L said, going to take a bite of the tower of cubes he had stacked on his spoon. I'm not sure how he did that, but it's not that important right now.

"Ryuzaki!" Dad and I yelled at him, making him only manage to catch one or two of the falling cubes before turning to Dad.

"What is it?" He looked between us. "There's no need to yell in unison."

"I can't carry on knowing these people will die! That's just immoral!" I yelled at him angrily.

"Right." Dad agreed.

"I know you're planning to catch Kira by letting these guys actually carry out these murders, but," I glared at him. "We can't let that happen."

"That's right. It's obvious that these seven men are behind the killings." Dad said. "With Matsuda's testimony and this footage we've recorded, we have all the evidence."

"You're making this difficult." L said, setting down his bowl. "If we were to take action now, everything we've done will go to waste."

"So, what do you say we take care of the ELF in three weeks, and as for Zenzai, we'll ask Kira to kill him this weekend?" The men in the meeting got our attention back on the screen.

"No objections."

"If that's what they're going to do, then there's not much time left. Light, we already know the phone numbers of these board members, don't we?" Dad asked.

"Yeah." I went to grab the paper and hand it to Dad.

"I don't care who we call. We need to reach one of these men and have them stop these murders."

"Please, hold on." L said. "That will cause suspicion. It would mean the investigation caught up to them three days after they were contacted by Aiber. Also, it would make it far more unlikely that we would be able to discover who the real Kira might be. We can't afford such a huge setback seeing how far we've come." He slurped his coffee, then set it down. "In order to catch Kira, we are going to need some solid proof."

I narrowed my eyes at him, but then found myself agreeing with the male version of me on what to do.

"Ryuzaki, if one or two of these seven men are Kira, would it be safe to say that if I tried calling one of them, the odds of that person actually being Kira is going to be two in seven at most?"

"Yes, that's correct." He looked at me.

"If we're prepared to let them know that the investigation is catching up to them, let's place our bets on these odds. Ryuzaki, I'm going to pose as L. Judging from their conversation so far, the one least likely to be Kira but with the most influence is-"

Everyone said different names, but L and I said "Namikawa." in unison.

"If you're going to make a call, please, use this phone." L said, looking to a fancy-looking landline sitting on the desk. "It's set up so it can't be traced or tapped."

So, I ended up picking up the phone and dialling. I wasn't as good with public speaking as the male version of me seemed to be, but I could at least do this. When the man answered his phone, I started talking.

"Is this Reiji Namikawa, head of the Yotsuba Group's marketing department?"

"Yes. And who is this?" He asked.

"Listen carefully, but don't draw attention to yourself. I am L." I said, a stupid grin coming to my face before I wiped it off and continued. "I've placed cameras and wire taps throughout that meeting room. Even as I speak I'm recording footage of your entire meeting. The first thing you discussed was Hatori's death. Now you're debating who to kill next. Am I correct?" I paused, then continued. "If you are not Kira, or if you are someone who cannot contact Kira directly, let's make a deal." I took a breath, doing my best to form the words correctly. "I need you to delay the death's of ELF's president and Mr Zenzai by one month. I doubt that will be difficult for someone of your standing to accomplish that."

"Yes. Yes, I see. Right, go on." He replied.

"If you complete your end of the deal and cooperate with our requests from now on, then your crimes, no, not just yours, but everyone's crimes with the exception of Kira's will be pardoned based on the premise that Kira blackmailed you into participating in these meetings."

"I see. Okay." He replied.

"If you tell the others about this call, they will panic. It will be of no advantage to you. Everyone would be arrested immediately. But that's not my intention. I'm planning to go one-on-one against Kira. Listen, if I win against Kira, you will be acquitted of all charges. If Kira wins, then you'll be free to carry on with your comfortable life. Just play along with both parties. Staying on the sidelines will be best. You're not in a position to lose anything regardless of who wins in the end. It would only be a loss if I decided to arrest you right here and now." I was pushing it, but I decided that was enough. "That's all for now."

"Right. I'll see you Monday then." He replied as I was already hanging up the phone.

Letting out a sigh, I grabbed the nearest chair and sat down. I was kind of afraid they'd notice my legs were shaking from nerves.

"What's going on, Namikawa? Who was that?" Baldy asked.

"One of my men screwed up again. I'll have to fix it on Monday." He replied smoothly. "Anyway, sorry for the interruption. Let's get back on topic. We were discussing when we should kill Zenzai and the men from ELF. Here's what I'm thinking, we'll give Coil one month to reveal L's identity. If he still hasn't uncovered the information we need, then we can go ahead and kill the targets randomly. Then we'll give him another month to investigate, and repeat the process. Once we get rid of L permanently, we can go back to killing two or three people a week. In other words, our top priority should be the elimination of L."

"I see. Once we kill L, there won't be anything standing in our way. But until then, we need to be careful."

"Right. Sounds like a reasonable plan to me." Baldy agreed. "We need to be extremely careful if we don't wanna get caught. Then, we're in agreement. We'll give Coil one month."

"Agreed."

"We'll still be meeting on a weekly basis. That is all." Baldy dismissed them.

"That went well." L said.

"Yeah." I sighed out, relieved.

"You really are quite amazing, Light. Not only did you manage to delay the killings, but you also set up Namikawa as a potential mole for us. Sounded exactly like the sort of thing I would do. And you thought of it quicker than I did." He was probably suspicious of me again. "At this rate, if I end up dying somehow, it's quite possible that you would be capable of succeeding me."

"What?! Why are you being so morbid?" I snapped irritably at him, getting the feeling that that wouldn't work out anyway. If I could remember the reason that'd be great, but right now, there are more pressing matters. I stood up to face L. "There isn't time for that. We only have a month to figure out Kira's identity and gather evidence against him to prove it. This is only the beginning."

"Yes, but you were the one who first noticed the connection between Yotsuba and Kira." L said, holding up some papers. "You actually might be more capable than I am. I honestly believe that you could take this on."

I just stared at him, not sure how to respond to that.

"Tell me, if I should die, would you take over for me as L?"

"Don't ask that of me. You're not going to die." I responded harshly, my fists balling up and my jaw clenching angrily. Then, I looked away, sighing. "Ryuzaki, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to tell everyone what you're really thinking right now. He thinks that if I am Kira, then there are two possibilities. Either I'm just pretending I'm not him and putting on an act, or Kira's power has passed on from me to someone else and I have no memory that I was ever Kira in the first place. He's trying to determine which, if either, is the truth. The first theory, if I am putting on an act, he will never remove these handcuffs." I lifted my arm to look at the cuff. "No, even if I wasn't pretending to be innocent, I'm sure he still wouldn't take them off. Ryuzaki still believes that I'm Kira. Even if that power had been passed to someone else, he thinks that I would've planned to have it returned to me once I'm safe from suspicion. In other words, I wasn't being controlled at all. He thinks it was a plan. To pass on the power and arrange for it to come back to me once I'd been cleared." There was a short silence before I continued. "Ryuzaki's theory is that once I steal L's title, I will become Kira again."

"Correct." L responded.

"Taking on the identity of L. Having the power to control the police in every country, while being Kira in secret. It's ideal. And you're thinking I could do it. No, that I would do it. That's what you're saying, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"You're wrong then. I'm not putting on an act. I don't want your title. You're not dying anytime soon if I have something to say about it and I do." I pointedly lifted my cuffed arm to rattle the chain.

"If this is all an act, and you are trying to steal my identity, there's no chance you'd be foolish enough to reveal your plan in front of everyone. Wouldn't you agree?"

He was pissing me off. So, I grabbed his shoulder, spun him around on the chair, then put my other hand on his other shoulder and lowered myself enough to be about eye-level with him.

"Ryuzaki, do you think that I'm actually capable of becoming a murderer? Kira? Even after I help you catch him? Do I seem like that kind of person to you?" I don't know why I was asking. I knew the answer.

"Yes, you do. I've always thought so."

Well, his foot was in my face, but my hand was in his so fast I didn't even know I had swung.

"Gah. Not again!" Dad said.

"Okay, break it up!" Matsuda threw himself between us. "Once is enough! It was a draw so, let's just leave it as an even match, okay?!"

"Tch." I rubbed my face on my sleeve and looked away. "Yeah, you're right. Anyway, let's focus on catching the Kira that's in front of us right now." I lifted my cuffed arm. "As long as I have the handcuffs on you shouldn't have any complaints."

"I suppose so." L turned his chair back to the desk. "We only have a month, so there's no time to get distracted."

Matsuda gave a sigh of relief.

"Ryuzaki," Dad said.

"Yes?"

"We have plenty of footage from this meeting. Can't we use that as evidence against those seven men and prevent the murders of other criminals."

"Unfortunately no."

"But why?"

"At the moment, we're not certain if Kira is among those seven men. If all they have is a tenuous connection with him, then Kira will kill them as soon as they're arrested. We have to be absolutely sure that Kira is among them so there's no point in detaining them now. And even if it does turn out to be one of them, it will be quite difficult to determine who the culprit is. I believe it is still far too early for us to make our move."

"Hold on. At the same time we can't say that he's definitely not among the seven. That means there's a chance the killings will stop if we take this opportunity to arrest them."

"There's a chance, but…" I mumbled, feeling my face scrunching up.

"Excuse me, but I think from now on, I should go after Kira by myself." L said while dropping more sugar cubes in his coffee. What is that, eight? "You can use these headquarters as you wish. I'll also be here, but we will be working independently. You can conduct your investigation under your own direction. Feel free to arrest those men if you like. I will be carrying on my own investigation. We'll only get into arguments if we don't split up and act separately at this point. This is...For the best."

"Are you saying you're going to figure out who Kira is by any means necessary?" Dad asked.

"Yes. This case will never be solved unless we capture Kira himself. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't say that preventing more deaths was pointless. But if we don't uncover the entire truth, once and for all, Kira will only appear again and the number of victims will continue to increase."

He had filled that mug full of sugar cubes by now. One fell out onto the desk, so I swiped it and put it in my mouth to suck on. I hadn't done this since I was a kid in that other life, but I kind of wish I'd done it sooner with how many sugar cubes are always present around here.

"That's why I believe it's more important to find out who Kira really is." L continued like I hadn't stolen a sugar cube. "As I've been saying, I am opposed to arresting those seven men. If you want to do so, then you will have to take responsibility for it. I will pursue Kira on my own. We only have one month." He got up and started walking past all of us. "I wonder who will succeed."

"R-Ryuzaki, where are you going?" I asked, being dragged along with him.

"To Amane's room. Sorry, I know you're on your father's side in all this, but I can't remove these handcuffs. I'm afraid you're going to have to come along with me."

You're wrong. I wanted to say that, but the words died in my throat, so I just followed him silently.

"Light!" Misa looked absolutely ecstatic to see me walk into her room with L. "I didn't know we were supposed to hang out!" The she saw L. "Oh, right, I should've known."

"Misa Amane." L began walking over to where she was sitting on the couch, but instead of being normal, he stepped on the arm and leaned a little too close to her, which made her move away. "Tell me, do you admire Light from the bottom of your heart?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah! Of course I do!" She responded.

"But you also worship Kira, don't you?"

"Well, yeah."

He got in her face, so I started yanking on the chain, but all that did was pull his arm out toward me.

"So then, if you had to chose between Light and Kira, who would you pick?"

"What?" Misa ran around to hide from him behind me. "That's obvious. Of course it's gonna be Light! I'm really grateful to Kira and want to meet him someday in person, but that's not our bond!" She hugged me. "I'd definitely chose Light."

"But your precious Light is planning to catch Kira." L said from the couch. "Isn't that right?"

"Well, yes, of course I am." I responded.

L was suddenly a little too close to Misa, making her yelp and tighten her grip, making me take a step back with her.

"She says she wants to catch Kira. Now what will you do?" L asked Misa.

"Well, if that's what Light says, then I'm gonna support her no matter what."

"I see. So if you were given the opportunity to work with Light on this investigation, would you take the offer?"

"Ryuzaki-"

"Yeah! Of course I would!" Misa said, letting go of me while cutting me off. "I'd do anything I could to help Light."

"Wait, hold on a second. Where are you going with this?" I asked L, although I already had a pretty good idea.

"I'm planning to have Aiber pose as Elraldo Coil again. He'll tell the Yotsuba members that while he was investigating L, he discovered that Misa Amane might know who he is. He'll also tell them that L brought her in for questioning on suspicion that she was the second Kira."

"That part is true." Misa said.

"If the Yotsuba Group believes that Misa could be their lead to finding L, then they'll say that they want to meet her to discuss their advertising campaign. They'll use that opportunity to question her. Thanks to Matsuda's screw-up they might already be considering Misa as their new spokesperson, so this could work."

"Yeah, right." Misa agreed.

"That sounds risky. Misa, who knows what could happen to you." I said worriedly.

"Aw, are you worried about me? Yay!" She hugged me quickly. "But don't worry. I don't mind doing something like this if it's for you, Light."

I sighed. "Listen Misa, it's hard to say that they won't go to great lengths to get information out of you because they think you know who L is."

"No problemo! I promise I won't say anything! Even if they torture me!" She said, holding up her arms in a strong-man way.

"I can attest to that." L said.

"But Kira can control his victims actions before their death. There's a good chance he might try to manipulate her into revealing what she knows and then kill her. Also, if he does manage to kill L, he won't have any use for Misa. He'd kill her to keep her silent." I snapped at him.

"Oh, I don't like the sound of that." Misa seemed to be getting worried now.

"Light," L lifted a finger to shake at me, which rattled the chain. "You forget that if we win against Kira, Misa won't die. Besides," He lifted his arm to have the chain sway in his face. "As long as we're handcuffed together, you and I share the same fate." He lowered his hand back to his pocket. "If I die, so will you. And if that happens, Misa is the one who will grieve most of all. Either we lose and both die together, or we successfully catch Kira. Which is it?" He motioned to Misa for an answer.

"We catch Kira!" She threw her arm up. "I would never dream about living in a world without Light!"

"Yes, that would be dark." L responded.

I couldn't stop the snicker in time. My hand went to my mouth a little too slowly. Both of their eyes were on me as I collected myself and tried to loosen that horrible dread that clenched my chest at the talk of people dying. Unfortunately, when my hand removed itself from my mouth, it buried itself in the fabric of my shirt over my chest and my eyes shifted to the floor for a second before looking up into L's black abyss of a gaze.

"I won't allow Misa to die. Not her, not Matsuda, not Mogi, not Dad. Especially not you." I said quietly, but it sounded loud in the silence of the room. "I will make sure Kira is executed, once and for all. And…I think we can take this risk." I turned to Misa with a small, forced smile. "Do you think…you could work with him?"

She stared at me for a few seconds before gasping quietly. "Oh, I see." She whispered, her eyes lighting up like she had just solved the greatest mystery. Then, she turned to L. "Well, I guess we could be friends, right, Ryuzaki?"

"Yes. So now I've gained yet another friend." L said.

"Yeah! Of course, anyone who is important to Light is a friend of mine!" She said, grabbing both our wrists while laughing and making us spin in this kind of awkward circle that only one of us really wanted to be apart of. I was just glad when it was over.

"And of course, I'd never think of betraying any of my friends. With our powers combined, we'll arrest Kira!" The movements she was making made me wonder if she wasn't impersonating one of those animes with magical girls or something.

"Unfortunately, Light's taking a different investigative approach from us and will be working with her father and the others." L said. "I'm afraid that it will just be you and I."

"Huh? What's up with that?" Misa asked, looking at me as I sighed.

"You're wrong." I muttered. "You're trying to manipulate me, but I was never on anyone's side in that argument. Besides, I've got no choice now. I have to make sure Misa is alright."

"Oh, Light. You're so sweet. Thank you for worrying about me." She said. "But I would gladly die if it's for you."

I adverted my gaze. "That isn't what I would want. Even if we were in a position where I would die if you didn't give your life instead, I would want you to live…Even if the world is dark."

This pain in my chest…I wonder if it's because I have so many people's lives to worry about. Or maybe, I really did lose my memory, but can still sense certain things. Was there something related to the Death Note that is making me feel this way? I guess I'd have to get the one I had back and find out. This foresight wasn't getting any easier to hide anytime soon. Still, things are beginning to change from what I've seen. Little by little. And it's making me uneasy.


	29. Chapter 29

I was just minding my own business, playing a game, but then a familiar scent hit my nose. I knew that scent well, but I don't know where it's coming from. I haven't showered today, so it couldn't have been from me. That only leaves…

"Hey, Ryuzaki," I said, scooting my chair over to lean closer and sniff at him. It was definitely coming from him. The scent of my minty shampoo. "Did you use my shampoo?"

"Is that a problem?" He asked, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, no, but…It's kind of weird." I replied, feeling slightly awkward bringing up our hygiene situation. At least Mogi was the only one around and he hardly ever said anything about what we talked about.

"How so?"

"I don't know. It just put me off that you smelled minty today."

"I don't see any problem with me using the same hygiene products as you do. We are roommates." He replied in his usual monotone.

"Well, I guess." I muttered, going back to my game and just wanting to stop talking about it.

See, due to the chain not being long enough, L and I both had to be in the bathroom when either of us were showering. Of course, I made a big deal of telling him not to look in the beginning, even though he pointed out that he's already seen everything and there's nothing to be embarrassed about, but I also insisted on not looking when he was in the shower either, so he agreed to the condition. Even though I'm pretty sure he still watched the curtain while I was in the shower. Although, it had gotten considerably less awkward the longer I was stuck with him because of the handcuffs. Anyway, our usual routine is that I shower almost every second day, if I get the chance, and he showers pretty much at random times that can very from every day to almost once a week. I guess it kind of depends how busy we are or whether you really want to drag the other one away from work for ten minutes to go take a quick shower. It wasn't any less weird by this point, but at least I had started to get used to it. Mostly because I continuously forget to hang my towels on the bar beside the shower and instead leave them on the counter where I had placed them while preparing to take a shower, so I end up asking him to hand me a towel nearly every time. At least he hasn't said anything about that particular bad habit of mine yet. Still, he never used my shampoo before. I wonder why he suddenly decided to? Oh well. I'll leave that mystery for when I actually have time to spare. Right now, we have to prepare Misa. Well, once she wakes up anyway. It was still only five in the morning right now.

. . .

"Alright. Let's try again, from the top!" L said through his damn director's cone. I'm sure part of the reason he had that was just for the fun of getting to use one.

"Tell me, Misa, is it true you once said you came to Tokyo in order to meet Kira?" Aiber was standing in as one of the Yotsuba guys so Misa could rehearse the audition that had been set up.

"What?!" Misa over exaggerated. Despite the fact I was sitting cross-legged on the floor with my back against the back of the couch she was on, I could imagine her flailing limbs as I rapidly tapped buttons on my game.

L smacked Misa's head with the cone and gave a sigh before holding it up to his mouth. "Misa, please stop overacting. It looks too cheesy. Not to mention fake."

"Huh? But I thought that was a realistic performance." By her tone, she was probably pouting at him.

"Just do it again."

"Whatever you say, oh so great Director." She said in a childish way as L lowered the cone to speak normally.

"If you don't get serious about this, I'll kick you." He threatened in the usual dull tone.

"Hmph!" Misa responded.

I just sighed and continued on with my turn-based RPG while they continued to rehearse.

"Light, could you please make Misa take this seriously?" L seemed to be whining at me after three more failed takes.

"Misa, don't screw up next time." I said absently, caught up in my game.

"Don't you have something more productive to do?" Now he was turning on my lack of help.

"I'm caught up in the middle of a very intense boss battle. Whatever productive stuff you want me to do while we're stuck here can wait twenty minutes." I replied.

And so, before long, Misa was off to go to the audition with the Yotsuba Group and L stopped being a director. Of course, that means he started dragging me down to the main room to wait for her to come back. I'm just glad I didn't screw up my battle as I was trying to walk down the stairs and play at the same time. Knowing him, he could have found something to do, but he seemed pretty intent to loom over my shoulder to watch me playing while the four of us left at headquarters just waited around.

"Oh man. I wonder if Misa-Misa's alright." Matsuda said. "Maybe we should've wired her or used something to track her movements."

I ignored him, instead biting my lip as my mind wandered a bit from the battle. I know this Kira is killing criminals that don't match the original's known criteria, but for some reason, I think I can relate to the original Kira in a way. There must be something wrong with me to relate myself to a murderer. I'm not Kira…Right?

"Agh! No!" I hissed, snapping back into game-mode as I noticed my zoning out had almost costed me three allies now. I started doing my best to save them, but it seems my level wasn't high enough to warrant absentminded tactics. I lost every one of my party members and got the game over screen. "Dammit!" I yelled angrily, hitting the "Start" button rapidly, doing my best not to do it too hard. I let out an irritated sigh as I loaded my last save. "I guess I have to free battle some more." I muttered bitterly.


	30. Chapter 30

"Misa-Misa sure is late." Matsuda said a few hours later, shortly after my game had died and L refused to move so I could get the charger.

Just after he said that, the elevator door opened and in walked Mogi and Misa.

"They're back!" Matsuda said.

"Hey!" Misa said energetically before letting out a tired sigh and walking over to me. "I'm exhausted." I stood up so she sat down on the chair instead of on me.

"How did it go?" L asked.

"Yotsuba agreed to hire Misa on as their spokesperson for the new ad campaign." Mogi said.

"I see. That's good to hear." L said.

"And I made sure to give them my cell phone number. Would you believe three out of seven guys already messaged me asking for a private date?" Misa asked, showing me her phone.

"What?" Matsuda asked.

"So now I accept their invitations and investigate them, right? It's going exactly as I planned!" Misa seemed proud of herself.

"No, the plan's getting cancelled right now." I said, hating to be the one to deny her.

"Huh?" She looked at me in confusion. "But why? Everything's been going so smoothly up until now."

"If we go any further, you'll be in danger." I told her as she stood up. "You can still appear in their commercials, but from now on, you should deny that you were suspected of being the second Kira and were detained by L. Mogi will continue being your bodyguard, but you'll be working solely as a celebrity." I said, sitting down on a nearby chair and bringing my legs up to sit on it in a cross-legged position as she gasped and looked disappointed for a second.

"If that's what you want Light, then that's what I'll do." She responded, and L turned to look at her. "Oh well, I'm feeling pretty tired. Tomorrow's shoot is bright and early, so I better get some sleep." She said, waving and walking away with a giggle. Then, once she was in the elevator, she half-hid inside it and called in a suggestive tone, "Hey, Light, have fun with Ryuzaki tonight."

I removed my legs from the chair and sat normally as I turned to look at her fully with confusion as she laughed. "What are you talking about?"

"Just kidding! You're saving it for after we catch Kira, right? You don't have to be shy about it!" She said, stepping back in the elevator as the doors closed.

"Yes, Light. There's no need to be shy." L said.

For some reason, there was a different kind of vice gripping my heart upon hearing that from him and I turned to stare at him. "I'm not being shy!" I snapped defensively, although I had no idea what exactly I was being shy about.

"No need to be so serious either." He responded.

I ignored that and looked back at the elevator. "What exactly was she even implying about anyway?" I muttered in confusion.

. . .

"I'm Kira. And in order to make you trust me and prove that I'm him, I'll stop killing criminals for the time being, then, once you're fully convinced I'm the real thing, you and I can get married." Higuchi's voice said as Misa played the recording on her phone when she actually returned.

"And so, based on what he said, Higuchi is Kira." Misa stated as we all stayed quiet.

"Now, we not only know Kira's identity, but all those deaths that were worrying the chief are gonna stop! That's amazing, Misa-Misa!" Matsuda seemed excited for her and she threw up a "v" for victory as I looked to L.

Misa approached me, but I couldn't face her. God, I was a mess of emotion at this point. I was worried about her when Mogi had said she had snuck away and gone on a date, but I was angry she would take this kind of risk. In part, it was because things were no doubt going to start changing from the male version of myself's story at some point. I just didn't know when or how.

"Hey, I don't want to talk about this." I said to her quietly, desperate to escape her description of the "date" to me. "Can I ask you something unrelated instead? What did you mean before?"

She gave me a disbelieving look. "You mean you don't know?"

I just shook my head and stared at her with my best puppy eyes. She leaned over to whisper in my ear so the others wouldn't hear.

"You're in love with Ryuzaki, aren't you?"

"W-What?! B-But that's-That's-" I sputtered, although I couldn't bring myself to actually deny it for some reason though. "H-How did you come to that c-conclusion?"

"It's totally obvious! I would be surprised if even he hasn't already noticed." She kept her voice quiet, but glanced at the back of L's head from the corner of her eye.

"Huh? How could he notice something that even I wasn't aware of?" I muttered back, following suit and looking out of the corner of my eye at the mess of black hair.

She sighed, then smiled teasingly. "You really aren't very good with that sort of thing, are you, Light? You're more like a boy than a woman."

"Sh-Shut up. Maybe you're just imagining things." I snapped back, although I felt heat rushing up to my face and lowered my head to hide behind my fringe. Now I just wanted out of this topic. So, I regained my composure and looked up seriously. "Misa, how did you get Higuchi to confess?"

"Easy. That guy's totally in love with me." She responded, apparently picking up on my reluctance to continue talking about it here. "All I had to do was tell him I'd marry him if he was really Kira. Plus, I managed to convince him that I'm the second Kira."

"Misa." I said harshly. "Didn't I tell you to deny all that?"

Watari rolled a cart of sweets past us to stop at L.

"But now we know that Higuchi's Kira, right? Can't we just catch him?"

"I suppose this is what you would call a victory, right, Matsuda?" L spoke up.

I turned to watch him pull sweets from the cart and place them on the desk. "But right now we still don't know how he kills his victims, do we?"

"Yes, that's what I was thinking. Before we move to arrest Higuchi," He flicked one of the three macarons he had set up, knocking it into the other two.

"If the criminals stop dying, we won't be able to figure it out. Unless we come up with another idea. Isn't that right?" I asked.

"Yes. At any rate, even if we do arrest Higuchi, we're not going to do it until we're certain that criminals have stopped dying. Let me think about this for a moment." He paused for only a few seconds before he pressed a button on the computer and a "w" different from Watari's showed up. "Wedy,"

"Yeah?" Her voice answered.

"An update on the current situation please."

"Everything's going smoothly. We should be able to track seventy precent of their movements using our cameras inside the office building."

"What about outside the office?"

"That's not going to be possible with just Watari and me."

"What if we focus solely on Higuchi?"

"Higuchi? I've only been able to enter the houses of five of the men so far, but Mido, Namikawa, and Higuchi all have super high-tech security systems. Especially Higuchi. He recently constructed a dampening room that shuts out any electronic waves. It took me two days just to break into the place."

"This guy sure does sound suspicious." Matsuda said.

"Alright, then begin installing microphones, trackers, and cameras, but not in the house. Instead, just put them in every car." L said.

"What? After getting this far? Do you know how difficult it is to break into someone's house? Besides, do you have any idea of how many cars this guy has?" Wedy responded.

"He has six." L said, reaching for another snack to shove in his mouth.

"Fine then. I just have to install them in all his cars, right?"

"Yes, thank you." L said, licking his fingers, then moving on to holding the macarons. "Light, I'm sorry to keep coming back to this topic. I'll just get right to the point."

"What is it?" I asked tentatively.

"Do you remember? Killing anyone, I mean." He looked at up at me where I was standing near his chair.

I just stared at him silently, honestly trying to remember.

"Well, do you remember?" L pressed.

"No. I don't." I replied.

"Misa, what about you?"

"I don't remember. How could I? 'Cause I'm not Kira!" She responded, a bit defensively.

"Look, Light, please listen to what I'm about to say." L said, but I just stayed silent and continued looking at him through my blank mask. "I'd like you to throughly analyze my current theory. This could determine the way in which we end up catching Kira. Light Yagami used to be Kira. Kira's power has somehow passed on to another person. Light Yagami now has no memory of ever being Kira. I need your analysis based on these assumptions. Do you think you can do that for me?"

"Yeah, I'll try." I took a deep breath through my nose and closed my eyes for a second.

"Light Yagami used to be Kira. Kira's power has somehow passed onto another person. Was that because Light Yagami wanted it to happen? Or was there someone else in control of Light, lurking in the background, who gave her the power? Was it that person that passed Light's powers to someone else?"

After a second, I opened my eyes and looked at him, dead serious. "Given your premise, it would be my will."

It was silent for a few seconds before L turned back to facing forward. "Yes, of course. If there is a third party with the ability to bestow or transfer Kira's power, they didn't want their method to be discovered. Makes no sense that they would wait so long to transfer it from you to the next Kira. If we believe that this is the work of some being watching us from above, then we'd have to accept that they are impossible to catch. Not to mention, I'd already be dead. Or at the very least, I'm being made to be a fool by eternally dancing in the palm of someone's hand. It's highly unlikely that such a being exists." He turned to look back at me after pausing to eat the crushed sweet in his hand. "Thank you, Light. I can now say that I feel ninety-nine percent better."

Watari walked in with a tray to set down near L.

"We'll create a situation where Higuchi will not be able to pass on his power to anyone else. We'll have him show us how he kills." L said.

"So, what're you gonna do?" I asked.

"I'm going to trick Higuchi using Sakura T.V."

"Like a hidden camera show!" Matsuda said.

"What?" Misa responded, but both were ignored.

"We'll use the Kira special that Demigawa airs every week. We'll book a three hour time slot. It'll be announced that Kira's identity will be revealed near the end of the special." L explained.

"Would anyone actually buy that though? This is Sakura T.V. after all. For all we know, Higuchi might not even watch that program." Matsuda said cluelessly.

"We'll get Namikawa to call him and say, "This is bad. Turn on your T.V." That should be enough to get him watching." I said. "Higuchi will buy it once he realizes that the special guest on T.V. is someone who knows his secret."

"Oh, I get it! So we'll be using Aiber then! He'll reveal that he was a spy all along!" Matsuda missed what our intention was.

"No, I'm afraid you're incorrect. We will not be using Aiber." L said as Watari wheeled out the cart. I swiped a couple macarons on his way past though. "Whoever appears on the show," L paused to swallow. "Has to be someone who Higuchi believes he will be able to kill. In other words, it has to be someone who's name he could look up easily."

"But we're never gonna find a person like that, are we?" Matsuda asked as all of us were looking at him.

"Sorry, Matsu. You're the only one that can do it." I told him.

"Matsu!" Misa agreed.

"Matsuda." Dad also agreed.

"Higuchi probably thinks that you were listening in on their meeting and overheard their plans to kill people. It would make sense that Misa's manager, who he thought was dead, is the one revealing his secret." I stated as Matsuda looked like he might start panicking soon.

"That's right. We'll have Sakura T.V. use a voice filter and frost glass to protect your identity. Higuchi will probably realize from the announcement and the silhouette that it's the manager, Taro Matsui, and just to make sure, we'll have the studio mess up and accidentally reveal your face from behind the frost glass." L said.

"Wow! Sounds exciting!" Misa said.

"Until the show ends, the announcer will keep saying he'll reveal the full name of each who's acting as Kira."

"Higuchi would feel cornered. He'd have no choice but to find out the manager's name as soon as possible and we can anticipate what actions he'll take." I continued.

"We'll witness his killing method. After that, we arrest him." L said. "There is one potential problem with this plan. If Higuchi can kill by simply looking at someone's face, just like the second Kira," He squished the sweet he was pinching so the inside oozed out. "Matsuda will die."

"But, considering the fact that you're still alive, and how he's pursuing Misa, I doubt that's the case." I said, seeing how scared Matsuda looked.

"At any rate, we're only going to do this once criminals stop dying. We'll have to wait for two or three days to see whether or not that happens. In the meantime, Matsuda will have to decide if he wants to go through with this plan." L said.

It took a second, but Matsuda walked forward a couple steps with a determined look on his face. "I don't need three days to decide. I want to do this."


	31. Chapter 31

So, I had to prepare for the day everything would go down as well. Not as much as Matsuda, but enough to make me at least a little nervous. I had to call Namikawa again. And the time for that was already here.

"Namikawa speaking." He answered the phone.

"It's L. Before I go on, are you by yourself?" I responded.

"No."

"Then just act like it's a normal call again."

"I don't think there's any need for that. One of the people here with me was just expressing his suspicions about your last phone call." Namikawa replied, then I distantly heard him tell the others that it was L on the line before he put the phone back to his ear. "L, Mido and Shimura are here as well. I'm reasonably certain that neither of them are Kira. In fact, they seem fed up with him at this point. I'll speak for them and say they will chose to stand back and watch your face off with Kira like I plan to."

I put the phone to my shoulder and looked at L.

"That's fine." He said, so I put the receiver back to my ear.

"Tonight I'm going to catch Kira. But I'll need a favour from you."

"Hm. Then it's the end for Higuchi." He responded.

"Ah, clever man." I replied with a smirk. "You have your own suspicions as well." I paused before cutting off whatever he had started to say in response. "Since you figured it out on your own, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'm baiting Higuchi with a T.V. special tonight. Sakura T.V. A few minutes into the program, I want you to contact Higuchi and tell him to tune in. Do that for me and I won't go after you or any of the other five. As for the others, Kida, Takahashi, and Ooi, if they try to do anything, make sure to stop them."

"Alright, I understand." He responded, so I hung up.

"Ugh, I screwed up, didn't I?" I whined, putting my forehead back down against the desk.

"No, you got him to do what we wanted either way, Light!" Misa tried to cheer me up.

I sat down, watching the T.V. special with L. Not long after it started, Misa's phone started ringing and she didn't answer it. I just continued watching the program, but not really listening. A lipstick commercial featuring Misa came on and I started to reach for my game, only to remember it was dead and slump back in my chair with disappointment. I felt even more anxious now than I have in a while and distracting myself with a video game would've been nice.

Then a beep came and Watari started speaking through the computer. "Ryuzaki, Mogi is in position in front of Yotshida productions. He's just received a call from Higuchi."

"Yes, it's time for phase two. Everything's as planned." L responded.

The screen changed to an "M" and a "H" and we listened in on the conversation.

"Mochi, where's Misa?" Higuchi asked.

"Oh, Mr Higuchi! Pleasure to hear from you! I'm sorry but Misa-Misa's taken a much needed vacation right now. She should be back by, oh, tomorrow morning though. You can reach her then!" Was that really Mogi's voice?

"I'm asking you where she is now!"

"Well, that's private information. She's requested that no one know where she is. I'm very sorry. I'll have her contact you tomorrow. First thing!"

"Do you know if Misa's former manager was an entertainer at some point?"

"Come again?"

"I'm talking about Taro Matsui!" Higuchi's voice was barely containing his frustration and panic.

"Oh! I was only recently hired, so I don't know much about him. If you need some information, I can let you talk to someone from the office. I just remembered! Everyone's at Okinawa at the moment. You can try calling the president though."

"This is going exactly as planned. It's almost scary." I said, thinking of how it was pretty much a replication right now.

"You shouldn't be scared, Light. You should be happy." L replied.

"I'm patching you in to Higuchi's call with the president of Yoshida productions." Watari said before a screen with "H" and "Y" appeared.

"This is Higuchi from Yotsuba. That manager's real name isn't Taro Matsui, is it?"

"He's not even pretending to hide what he's asking about now, is he? Stupid Higuchi." Misa said over the call.

"If he's acting like that, it's proof he's beginning to panic." L replied.

"Then what was his real name?!" Higuchi yelled.

"I think it was Yamada. No, wait, Yamashita. Yeah. And his first name was, ah, I'm sorry, I can't remember." The president replied.

"Don't screw with me! Why the hell can't you remember the names of the people you hire?!"

That yelling made me take an involuntary step back and cross my arms to grip my elbows. It was scary.

"Alright, no need for that kind of language. I've got his personal file back at the office."

"Then go back there and get it."

"You've gotta be kidding me. Give me a break. We're on our first company vacation in two years! If you want to know that badly, I'll give you the pin code for the office lock. You can go in yourself and look it up. How's that? The personnel files are in the desk at the back to the left. You'll find them filed in the bottom drawer. They should all be sorted alphabetically, but I'm pretty sure it was Yamashita."

The call ended and we stared up at the screen.

"So, what's he gonna do?" Misa asked.

Of course, he got in one of his cars and started driving like a madman to the building to get the file. Wedy followed after him on a motorcycle though.

"I see Higuchi. He's only carrying a single bag. I'm in pursuit." Wedy said as we watched the trackers on the screen.

"Everything's still going according to plan." I said.

"Yes." L agreed.

The same commercial of Misa's new line of lipstick came on yet again. However, instead of being annoyed by this, I was highly amused by watching L imitating it by biting and pulling on the peel of his banana. I started to snicker.

"Ryuzaki, the commercial's almost over." I told him between giggles.

He stopped and stared at the screen again "Oh, is that so?"

I went to sit down at one of the computers as the program went on.

"Light, please put Higuchi's car on audio channel one and Sakura T.V. on channel two." L told me.

"As expected, Higuchi's watching every minute of this from his car." I said, doing as I was told.

After a few minutes, Higuchi spoke up.

"Rem, what do you think?"

"Rem?" I repeated. The name made me uneasy. Especially when it looked like he was alone in the car. "Who's that? There's no one else in that car, right? It's impossible for someone to be hiding without us knowing. He isn't using his cell phone. Could it be hidden radio?"

"No. There aren't any radios or other devices. Only the bugs, cameras, and tracking beacons that Wedy placed." L responded, setting down the banana peel. "I have no doubt she did a through job."

"Do you think I'll get to Yoshida productions only to find his file isn't there?" Higuchi asked.

"Is he talking to himself?" I muttered as my unease grew.

"If this guy was smart, he would destroy everything that connects him with his real name before he appeared on T.V." Higuchi responded to something we didn't hear. "And don't you think it was a little too reckless for Yoshida Productions to just let me into their offices unsupervised? Hgn. Maybe not. If there was a robbery, they'd figure out right away who did it since I know where the key is."

"This isn't sounding very good." Misa said.

"He'll still go there. Don't you worry." L told her.

"Even if he does have a file at Yoshida, it could be just another alias. Dammit! I wouldn't put it past this guy to do something like that. No wonder he's confident." Higuchi continued talking, then paused. "Yeah, I already know that much for myself. But just to be on the safe side, I should also kill the people I contacted at Yoshida Productions. That includes the president, Misa, and that manager of hers."

"What?! No way! He's gonna kill me?" Misa asked.

"It's alright. Don't worry. He's talking about doing that after he's killed Matsuda. There'd be no point in killing the rest of you until he's gotten rid of the main threat." L replied.

"That's true, but still…" I said.

"Oh, yeah. Rem, I didn't think you were so smart." Higuchi said. "Then I'll make them all erase their call histories before they die."

I balled up my hands, my unease and anger rising as I continued watching this guy. "There's no way he can just be talking to himself. But who's Rem? Who is he talking to?"

"If he's talking with someone right now, it could be," L started to peel another banana. "A shinigami."

I looked back at Misa and noticed a strange look on her face, but decided not to say anything and looked back at L.

"Perhaps." He finished, taking a bite of his banana.

I turned back to the screen, feeling too uneasy to even find how he kind of resembled a monkey just then amusing.

"No, I'd end up being ruined if I did that. Even if I forgot the notebook, this guy says he has concrete evidence to back him up. If he points out Yotsuba's recent growth on the air, no one would ever doubt his claims. They'd believe whatever he said. That means whoever he says is Kira will be marked as Kira. Even if he didn't have proof and I got rid of the evidence by returning the notebook, my life would be over. I wouldn't get promoted. I wouldn't even be able to stay with Yotsuba." Higuchi said.

Shortly after, he stopped at the offices and got out of the car.

"He's arrived at Yoshida Productions." I said.

"The show is about to begin." L replied.

We watched as he entered the building and started shifting through the files in the desk that had been specified by the president. Once he found it, he stood up and reached for something in his bag.

"We're in position and ready to take him down. We'll move on your command." Mogi said.

"Right." L responded to him.

All Higuchi did was write down the name in the notebook he pulled out of his bag. Then he put everything back and walked out.

"He's not doing it. He just made a note of his name before leaving. So, he's not gonna kill him here?" I asked in surprise.

"Ryuzaki, do you want us to apprehend him?" Mogi asked.

"Negative. We still don't know how he kills." L replied. "Perhaps he's planning to do something once he's back in the car. Let's see camera one again."

Apparently it was my job to maintain which camera we were seeing on the screen, so I did it and we saw Higuchi sitting in his car, but not doing anything notably strange. Other than the fact he seemed pretty calm now.

"It's weird. You'd think he'd be desperate to kill Matsuda, but he's calm." I commented.

"It is strange. If all he needed was the name, then he should've simply taken the personnel file with him, but he just put it back in its drawer after taking note." L replied.

Higuchi continued watching the program for a bit, but suddenly snapped and started yelling.

"Damn! He didn't die!"

"What's he talking about? He said he didn't die?" I asked in confusion.

"Did he already try and kill Matsuda? Was writing his name down all he had to do, or was…?" L seemed to be a bit at a loss as well.

"What do we do now? Should we just continue watching what he's doing? What if he can cause a death by just imagining it?" I asked, but then it hit me. That memory of the male version of myself in this same situation. Oh right, it must've been that. But, then I have to keep up the clueless act a bit longer.

"Gah! I don't have any time!" Higuchi pulled out his phone.

"He's making a phone call." I stated.

"It's probably Misa again." L said just before Misa's phone started ringing.

"Yep." Misa said, pulling out her phone and cutting off the call again.

Higuchi angrily threw his phone then stayed quiet for a few seconds before he started to speak again.

"Rem, let's make the deal."

"The deal? Who is this Rem person he keeps talking to? Could it really be that Kira's power comes from another world or some being?" I asked, not wanting to believe that that was what was going on.

"I really don't want to think that's the case." L responded, apparently feeling the same way, but probably for a different reason.

"Then what is this Rem?"

"A shinigami? Whatever it is, we need to keep watching him. We'll learn nothing if we take him now. We may still be able to find out how he kills." L said.

Watching the screen, I had to shudder when I saw the sick grin that spread on Higuchi's face. Then, he sped off and Wedy and Mogi headed after him. It wasn't long before a motorcycle cop made Higuchi pull over.

"This is bad. Higuchi's been pulled over by a traffic cop. I'm gonna have to pass him and leave the pursuit to Aiber's team." Wedy told us.

"You were speeding. Licence please?" The cop said, leaning in the window.

"Yeah. No problem." Higuchi dug his hand into his bag.

"Switch all screens to Higuchi's car." L said, so I did.

"Let's see. Where did I put it?" Higuchi mumbled as he dug around in his bag, but then he put it down and sped off again.

"Higuchi ditched the cop! He's driving away." Mogi reported.

Then, it seemed like something had happened. before Mogi spoke up again.

"That motorcycle cop just rear-ended that truck! He's dead!"

"He's dead?! By accident?!" I asked, trying to force myself not to start shaking.

"This is very bad." L said.

"Rem…A deal…" I mumbled, staring at the screen.

"Everyone! It's too dangerous to allow further action by Higuchi! Let's bring him in!" L ordered suddenly. "I believe he has the same powers as the second Kira. He is able to kill just by looking at someone's face. Please keep this in mind when you move in to arrest him."

The creepy laugh that came from Higuchi made my skin crawl, but I was a bit worried from what I knew of the male version of me in this situation.

"Watari, connect me to the director of the NPA." L said.

"Yes."

"This is L. We are now aware of Kira's true identity. He is currently heading from Kibuya to Shibuya along Highway Route One via red sports car. Our group will be handling the arrest. In the meantime, please instruct all officers to refrain from approaching his car." L told the police.

"Alright, Dad, during the next commercial, take measure seven." I said, keeping my voice surprisingly even.

"Understood."

"So then, Light, what say we go and join the fun as well?" L suggested.

"Yeah." I agreed, although I wasn't too sure about it. L then proceeded to cuff and tie Misa to a chair.

"I'm sorry Misa, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to make sure you're restrained for a while." He said.

"What?! But that's-! Stop joking around!" She protested.

"Sorry Misa. We'll be back soon." I told her before leaving with L to go to the roof and meet with Watari.

Seeing him fly a helicopter was actually pretty impressive.

"I didn't realize you could pilot a helicopter. That's incredible." I commented.

"Well, you can figure it out with intuition." He responded.

I wanted to ask if he really did know what he was doing right now, but the GPS monitor caught my attention. "Hm? Higuchi isn't going to Sakura T.V. He's headed the wrong way."

"Based on his route, I'd guess he's going to the Yotsuba main office." L replied.

After that, he started using the radio.

"Come in, Wedy. Have you removed absolutely everything relating to Matsuda at the Yotsuba headquarters?"

"Yeah. Why? Is he headed there now?" She sighed. "He's not convenient. That should give me more than enough time to go and meet up with Mr Yagami to set up the ambush."

After stopping at Yotsuba for a bit, he was off heading toward Sakura T.V. now.

"Dad, Higuchi's left Yotsuba. He's on his way to Sakura T.V. He'll be there in less than fifteen minutes. Are you ready?" I asked over the radio.

"I don't need my daughter asking if I'm ready. Of course I am." He replied.

After Higuchi arrived at Sakura T.V., Mogi and Aiber did as well.

"We've arrived at Sakura T.V. We're moving into position." They reported over the radio.

After a few minutes, the radio came alive again.

"L, Higuchi has a gun on him. The chief's been shot. Higuchi's escaping!"

"I'm alright." Dad said. "Sorry, Ryuzaki. If we pursue him right now, we can still catch him. Hurry!"

"Dad…" I muttered, then shook my head. "This is bad. He's escaped from Sakura T.V."

"This leaves us no choice. We'll have to move in and apprehend him." L said. "Watari, are you ready?"

"Yes." The old man, who also happened to be a skilled sharp-shooter, replied from where he was ready with a sniper in the back.

"Light, I think you should hold onto this for self-defense. This is Kira we're after." L said, holding up a gun to me in his usual peculiar way.

"No thanks. Firearms aren't allowed in Japan." I responded.

"You know, I'm sure your father would say the exact same thing." He replied.

I just smiled and nodded. "Mm."

We continued following the car chase in the helicopter, but a police barricade forced Higuchi to stop.

"What's happening? I thought we told the police not to get involved with the arrest." Watari said.

"The only one who would do this is…" I said, not able to help the bit of a smile at the thought.

"Yes. You must be right." L said.

Once Higuchi's car came to a stop, the helicopter's spotlight was put on him. He tried to drive between the cars, but Watari shot out his tire and sent him spinning to a stop against the wall of the road. Then, he was surrounded and unable to escape. So, he put his own gun to his head.

"Stay back! Stay back or I'll shoot, I swear!" He threatened.

Of course, that act of desperation was thwarted by Watari shooting the gun out of his hand. The helicopter landed then.

"It's over." I muttered, although my chest was clenching painfully again.

"Yes. It's over." L replied.

"Ryuzaki, please, let me go and make the arrest." Dad said over the radio.

"I'd like to come with you chief, if that's alright." Mogi added.

"I understand. But remember, this is Kira. Be sure to take every precaution when you approach him and don't allow him to see your face." L responded. "Watari, if Higuchi tries anything or makes any sudden moves…"

"Understood. I will shoot to stop him, not to kill." Watari responded.

Then, the masked forces went to cuff and blindfold the defeated Kira.

"We've apprehended him." Dad reported.

"Mogi, I want you to put a headset on him as planned." I stated.

"Rodger."

"Higuchi, how are you able to kill people? Tell me." L demanded once the headset was in place.

Higuchi didn't answer.

"If you're not going to talk, I'll use whatever means necessary to get it out of you." L threatened while pouring himself some coffee from a thermos.

"The notebook." Higuchi replied after a hesitation.

"Notebook?" L repeated.

"You probably won't believe me, but I've got a special notebook. If I write someone's name in it while thinking of their face, that person dies."

"Mr Yagami." L said.

"Yeah, I found it. It was in one of the compartments of Higuchi's bag. He has written a lot of names in it, but there doesn't seem to be anything else unusual about it." Dad said, then started screaming and dropped the book.

"Huh?" L and I both looked up to see what was going on, but nothing had seemed to have happened. Dad was just sitting on the ground from where he had fallen out of Higuchi's car. I think he was reaching into his jacket as well.

"What is it Mr Yagami?" L asked.

"It's…A monster!" Dad responded.

"Please calm down. Don't panic. Remember, you're not currently armed to defend yourself." L said.

"Oh, oh right. Of course." Dad responded.

"Chief, hang in there. Are you alright?" Mogi asked him.

"Mogi, can't you see that thing over there?!" Dad pointed, but I couldn't see anything.

"Chief, I think you must be getting tired," Mogi said, holding the notebook that had been dropped, but then he looked and started screaming as well.

"Mogi? What's wrong?" I asked, surprised if he was scared of whatever they were seeing as well.

"T-That thing. It's seems…Only people who have touched the notebook can…can see, this monster!" Dad said.

"Please bring the notebook over to the helicopter." L said.

"Uh, oh, okay." Mogi did as asked and came to hand it over to L.

"Here it is, Ryuzaki."

"Hm." He took it, then turned to look in the direction they had been looking. "It really is…A shinigami. They really do exist." L didn't scream, but he still seemed fazed.

"Ryuzaki, come on, let me see it." I reached over to grab the book out of my curiosity when he had spaced out.

However, as soon as I had the notebook and was looking at Rem, I had frozen, my heart racing and my head swimming with memories all of a sudden. It was almost painful. Was that screaming? Oh. That's my screaming, isn't it? After everything came back and my screaming stopped, I panted, staring at the notebook.

"Are…Are you okay Light?" L asked a bit tentatively. "I suppose seeing that monster would surprise anyone."

"Ryuzaki," I said without looking at him as I pulled the laptop onto my lap and opened it.

"What is it?"

"I want to check this out. I'm going to try comparing the names written in this notebook with the names of the victims." I said, typing on the laptop.

"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." He replied.

This is how I planned for it to happen. This is how it was supposed to be. I realize that now. Everything was just going to come to the same conclusion, whether I remembered or not, but it would be better to remember. I had made sure to make my notebook be the one to come back by transferring the ownership of it to Rem and telling her to find someone that will use it for power and money and told her that I am certain this method will be the way to get Misa released and possibly cleared shortly before or maybe after my death. That's the reason she is the shinigami I saw when I took hold of this notebook. I also remembered what she had told me about only having my memories back as long as I have the notebook. So, opening the hidden compartment in my watch, I picked my finger with the needle in there and wrote down Higuchi's name when no one would notice me doing so.

"Mr Yagami, please take Higuchi to the car." L was saying just as I finished and hid the needle and the piece of the Death Note again.

"Yes, of course." Dad replied.

I looked at L out of the corner of my eye. "You know, about this notebook, I wonder what we would find if we put it through forensic analysis." It's true I was curious, but there is no way that should be allowed to happen. What if they find a way to replicate it and it's effect?

"Hm? That doesn't sound like you Light." L replied. "We both know that this thing is beyond science."

"Yeah, you're right." I responded lightly, looking up to see Higuchi being escorted.

As they were walking, that pain squeezed my heart harder with every step they took before Higuchi suddenly seized up and began making pained noises.

"Ryuzaki, Higuchi is-" Dad said.

"What the hell?! What's happening?!" I asked, like it was surprising to me as well.

Then, Higuchi stopped moving completely.

"Dad, what're you doing? We can't lose him. If Higuchi dies on us now-"

"It's impossible, but, there's nothing I can do. He's already…" Dad responded.

I clenched my teeth and hung my head. This is going to be difficult. Why did I want to torture myself like this? I glanced at L out of the corner of my eye and my chest hurt so much I started to wish I just couldn't breathe anymore. Not to mention the other realization I made when my memory returned.


	32. Chapter 32

I pretty much tuned Aizawa out, mostly because I had scrapped the idea of first fake rule due to the fact it didn't really matter if I were caught or the book were destroyed now. It's already set in stone and that was pretty much all I could think about lately. However, I have been doing an exceptionally good job of keeping it off my face. Although, I did write the rule claiming that the user will die if they don't use the notebook for thirteen days, mostly in an attempt to clear Misa.

"Rem, was it?" L spoke up suddenly. "That's your name isn't it? The white thing over there."

"Ryuzaki, isn't it a bit rude to go around calling someone a white thing?" Matsuda asked.

"What do you want?" Rem responded.

"There's more than one notebook in the human world, isn't there?" He asked.

"Who knows? There may be and there may not be." She told him.

"If there are other notebooks, either here or in your world, would they all have the same rules as this one?"

"Yes, they are all the same. There are many notebooks in the shinigami realm, but they all have the same rules. Even the rules for when humans obtain them."

"Ryuzaki, Miss Amane and Light have both been cleared of suspicion. They shouldn't be under surveillance any longer." Aizawa said, walking forward.

"That's right! It's crystal clear!" Matusda said.

"I suppose you're right." L said, sounding a little dejected. He went to put another tiny creme carton on his tower, but then stopped and decided it was tall enough. "I understand. Please accept my apologies for all the trouble."

They let out a sigh of relief as Dad approached me, but my chest seized painfully again as he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Thank goodness." He said.

"Y-Yeah…" I responded, then stood up. "But we still can't say we've solved the case until we've figured out everything. Would it be alright if," I paused, almost reluctant to say the next part I was supposed to as I lifted my arm. "I keep investigating with you, but without the handcuffs on?"

"Yes." L responded.

And so, after a few hours of having the handcuffs off, I dismissed myself to go take a shower.

After I had finished and was reaching for a towel, I found that I had forgotten to hang them on that bar again.

"Hey, could you hand me a towel?" I asked, holding out my hand for a second before remembering that he wasn't going to be there anymore and stepping out to grab the towel off the counter myself.

The pain in my chest made me grip the fabric of my towel to my heart as I thought of how stupid it was to miss being constantly with a creepy guy like that at a time like this. I should be happy he isn't in the room when I'm showering. I should enjoy my last week, not resent my freedom. Without really realizing it, I backed up to the wall behind me before sliding down it to pull my knees to my chest with my free hand. I put my forehead down to my knees and shut my eyes tightly against the stinging sensation.

I only have a week to live. I only have six days at most to prepare and figure out if I'm going to tell anyone. I only have that short amount of time to prepare to die alone because I am a horrible, selfish person who knew just a bit too much for her own good. I have to wonder if I did something horrible in that old life that I just can't remember and that this is my punishment. Never mind the nothingness that will come after I die. Or the fact that I will forever believe that a peaceful death in my sleep is far better than anything I deserve for all of this. Worse yet, I can't help but feel like the people who are most important to me will never forgive what I've done. To them, to others, or to myself. Why did I have to actually do it?

. . .

"Oh, Light, be sure to text me every day, okay?" Misa asked, hugging me when she was supposed to leave.

"Oh, after all this time we're saying goodbye to Misa-Misa." Matsuda said sadly.

"Knock it off, Matsuda. Let's leave them alone." Aizawa dragged him off.

"Goodbye, Misa-Misa!" Matsuda cried as I hugged her back, feeling horrible about everything.

"Enough!" Aizawa yelled as they got on the elevator and I checked the surveillance cameras.

"Misa, I need you to do me a favour. You have to go somewhere and dig something up, but you have to make sure that no one is watching." I told her, reluctant to involve her anymore, but still telling her about the place.

I had left a note for her in the notebook. I only hope that she follows my instructions to burn it and the notebook and never look back. I don't know how many times I've told her I planned on dying and that I didn't want L dead, but hopefully she'll believe that I really do consider her a good friend and that it's important to me that she live a normal, happy life, no matter what. I might have thought she was a bit annoying before getting to know her, but she really is a great friend. I'm the one that has the problem in that friendship. I asked her to give Ryuk a few apples and apologize to him before she did burn the thing and send him back to the shinigami realm though. It's the least I could do to make it up to him for being so roundabout.

. . .

Misa came by the next day since we couldn't turn our cell phones on. So, I went to see her. She hugged me when she saw me, then decided to bring it up.

"Hey, Light, I'm so sorry! I went to that place you told me about." She then frowned in confusion. "But when I was there, I forgot what I was doing and there was something burnt laying at my feet…"

I hugged her tightly. "That's okay, Misa. As long as you're safe. Please forgive me, but all I want is for you to enjoy a long, happy life, so…I have to ask you to stop coming to see me." I kept a firm grip on her when she tried to jerk away, mostly due to the fact my eyes were watering and I didn't want her to see that.

"B-But, Light! We're best friends!"

"I know, but…This investigation is too dangerous for you to stay near it any longer. Please understand, Misa." I said, collecting myself and moving to have my hands on her shoulders and push her back to arms length. "This is goodbye. Please be happy without me."

"But I can't-"

"You can. You are very important to someone. I promised that you would not die because of me, so please don't make me break it. Please, Misa." I pleaded, trying my best not to show how much I wanted to say it properly, but couldn't. This goodbye where I push her away is the only way I could think of. I turned my back on her. "I'm going to tell them not to let you in anymore. So, don't come back here. This is goodbye, Misa. You were a very good friend to me. I appreciate that."

Without listening to her protests, I walked to the elevator and kept my back to the doors as they closed behind me. I didn't go back to the others, instead, I went to my room and grabbed my game system before going back and pretty much ignoring all of their questions about what had happened between Misa and I.


	33. Chapter 33

I had more or less dedicated all of my time to either stealing sweets from L, or that RPG I've been playing. Today, I wasn't feeling hungry. Today was the day I had made my decision after speaking to Rem briefly about whether she was satisfied and if she would kill L. Misa's lifespan had stayed the same due to her not making the eye deal with Ryuk and burning the notebook, so Rem said she was satisfied and would not kill L anytime soon. She told me I don't need to worry and that perhaps she had misunderstood me, but she left it at that and I didn't want to ask because we had to speak in code in front of the cameras and the others who may be listening. My screen went blank and credits started rolling, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, I finished it." I said blankly, not feeling the usual accomplishment of finishing a long game like that.

"Did you really want to continue investigating or did you just want to stay here because you don't want to go home and study?" Aizawa snapped at me.

I gave him what felt like a hollow look. I guess it was, since he shut up and seemed to get a slightly concerned look on his face. It doesn't matter by now anyway. There's not much time left.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe that I will be of help right now." I replied.

"Why do you say that, Light?" L asked from beside me. Old habits die hard, so I tended to stay close to him.

"I think maybe we should just burn the notebook tomorrow and be done with it. Kira's dead, right? No criminals are dying."

"That doesn't mean he's dead. Maybe he's just taking another break." Aizawa said.

"You just don't sound motivated." L said, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

I sighed, closing my game as the ending credits stopped and it went to the title screen. I set it down on the desk, but continued staring at it after my hand had left it.

"Why is that?" L asked, seeming to have taken the silent answer.

"Can I answer that later? I'm not ready yet."

"What do you mean?"

I got up and started walking away, holding up a hand lazily. "I'll tell you tomorrow sometime."

"Hey!" Aizawa called after me, but no one stopped me from going to my room.

I pulled the blanket over my head and somehow managed to force myself to go to sleep for the night. Unfortunately, I was plagued by nightmares of everyone who might die from this point on if I had lived or even if Misa had ignored me and continued being Kira. When I woke up, showered, and then finally decided to go downstairs, no one said much of anything to me. I didn't feel much like talking to them either. I'm not sure if I'd be able to keep my cool today. Rem gave me a knowing look from her spot in the back of the room though. Then I noticed the absent presence. Had I slept that long? I wasn't prepared yet!

"Where's L?" I must've sounded at least a little panicked.

"Huh? Who knows?" Matsuda answered with confusion.

"Light, what's wrong?" Dad asked me as I felt myself starting to tense up.

He hadn't pressed me about what happened with Misa, or why she hadn't come back after that day. I found it odd, but I wouldn't be all that surprised if he had already realized what was wrong with me lately. Everyone was kind of at a loss for what to do, since Kira hadn't appeared again. Did he figure everything out by now?

"Rem," I turned my back to the others to look at the shinigami. "You don't need to come back here again." I told her, then ran to grab the notebook and dashed out of the room before anyone could stop me.

Once I got to the roof, I tucked the notebook under my shirt and took a deep breath before opening the door and walking out. It was raining pretty heavily, and it was loud, but there was L, standing out by the satellite dish and getting soaked. He seemed to notice me standing under the cover near the door. Zipping my brown hoodie all the way up, I walked out to stand beside him, feeling the rain pound harshly through my hair.

"What are you doing, Ryuzaki?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm not doing anything in particular, it's just…I hear the bell."

My chest seized up painfully. "…The bell?"

"Yes. The sound of the bell has been unusually loud today." He turned to look at the sky.

I paused to listen, but had to smack a hand over my mouth to stop a gasp when I heard one loud chime. I didn't hear it more than that once, but that was all it took for me to know. That bell was the chime of death. But if that's the case, he shouldn't still be hearing it, should he? I hope it's wrong. I hope he won't die today.

"I wonder if it's a church. Maybe a wedding or perhaps a…" He trailed off.

"C-Come on. L-Let's get back inside." I told him, unable to think of anything else to say. I wasn't prepared for this part. I didn't think about it.

He lowered his head and fixed his solemn gaze on the ground. "I'm sorry, nothing I say makes sense anyway. If I were you, I wouldn't believe any of it."

I stared at him, my hand unconsciously rising to grip at the vice showing up around my heart again. "The same could be said of myself."

He looked over, then said, "Tell me Light, from the moment you were born, has there ever been a point where you've actually told the truth?"

The rain seemed to go silent for a second as I held his dead serious gaze. I ended up biting my lip and adverting my gaze.

"Today will be." I muttered quietly before bringing my gaze up to meet his with newfound resolve. "I have something I must tell you."

He stared at me for a second before speaking again. "Let's go back inside. We're both drenched."

"Y-Yeah." I agreed.

So, I ended up sitting on the steps drying my hair as L walked around a bit with the towel on his head.

"Well, that was an unpleasant outing."

"Rain isn't that bad." I responded with a shrug.

He walked over and crouched down on the stairs to pick up one of my bare feet.

"What are you doing?" I asked, a bit creeped out.

"I thought I might help you out. You were busy wiping yourself off anyway." He said like it was perfectly normal.

"Uh, it's fine. You don't have to do that."

"I can give you a massage as well."

"Seriously, don't." I told him, pulling my foot away while grabbing my towel and dropping it on his head. "I should be the one atoning for my sins and you haven't even dried your hair."

"What sins?" He asked quietly as I gently massaged his head through the towel.

I paused in my movement, hesitating. "…What I'm going to tell you."

It was quiet for a few minutes as I dried his hair.

"It will be lonely, won't it?" He said, looking through his hair at me with only one eye, making me stop with my hands still on his head when I noticed the small smile. "You and I will be parting ways soon."

I stared at him as I felt more pain than I thought possible take over my chest and my eyes watered. I shook my head. "You're wrong. You're the one who will win this time. Don't be lonely."

He just stared at me as I closed my eyes and removed my hands from his head to clutch at the fabric of my hoodie. When I reopened my eyes, I had steeled my resolve. I would confess to him in person while I still had the chance.

"I am Kira." I told him, looking him in his eye as it started to widen. "Kira will be executed today. I've kept my promises. No one else will die." My vision blurred as I finished, but I refused to acknowledge the tears by wiping them. Instead, I took the silence to continue, even if my voice was breaking. "I killed those criminals, I killed the FBI agents, I set it up so that I would lose my memory and get the notebook back. What you were always wrong about was my desire to kill L."

"Killing me was never your intention?" He said slowly, seeming to be starting to get over the shock.

I shook my head, a pained smile tugging at my lips. "I knew that Lind L. Tailor was a criminal. And I knew that killing him would get your attention. It wasn't because of what you or he were saying. It was because I knew it would help you narrow it down. The FBI was for the same reason, but I've never stopped regretting killing them. Everything I did until the second Kira showed up was to help you find me without giving away my real goal."

"What was your real goal?" He asked, going back to that cold monotone.

"It was to meet you. L, the world famous detective. L Lawliet, the one I've seen die the exact same way in over forty of my dreams."

"You already knew…" His composure had slipped at the mention of his full name.

"I knew all along. I could have killed you any time I wanted, but there was a problem. I wanted to meet you, that's all. I didn't want to kill you or anyone else who was after me. I was aware that what I was doing was evil, but it's what I was supposed to do. What I was destined to do." I paused, feeling a rush of tears and sniffling before I continued. "Like you were destined to die, but, I changed it. Or, at least I hope I did. If I die, you live. In hindsight, I probably could've fought destiny all along by not becoming Kira at all, but, humans are truly foolish. I am no exception."

"So, you regret it now?" He didn't sound like he really believed that.

"It's fine. You don't have to believe that anything I say is the truth. I can be a liar right up 'til the end, if you want. I just thought that I should tell you. That I, the real Kira, had written my own name in my Death Note before I had lost my memories. Just before you had detained Misa, actually."

"Am I supposed to believe that you had planned to die the entire time you were Kira?" He questioned.

"Believe what you want." I opened the hidden compartment of my watch and removed the paper to show him Higuchi's name. "I had to kill him to regain my memories, but the real purpose in hiding this page here was as a reminder, even if I couldn't remember it was even there." I stated, unfolding the page before showing him the other side, where I had written my name. "This kind of death isn't at all what I deserve, but I'm really a coward when it comes down to dying in any way I'd be able to feel."

He stared at the writing for a long time, but didn't say anything. I folded the page back up and stuck it in my pocket before wiping at my face and giving a hollow chuckle as I sniffled.

"I thought that I would confess to you in person and it would be difficult, but I didn't plan on crying. Sorry." I told him, standing up and turning my back to him. "Well, if I'm still not reverting to the liar I really am, I will say one thing. If I could go back and change just one thing, it would probably be to make it so that we never met. Although I'm grateful for being able to meet you, become your friend and then fall…" I couldn't get any more of those words around the lump in my throat, so I cleared it and continued. "Anyway, I think it would've been better for both of us that way." I paused for a long time before I decided what else I should say. "But, since I can't change anything and I also cannot give you a full explanation of the entire Kira case, on the grounds that I'm afraid it will undo the actions I took to prevent your death, I will tell you that everything that I was not supposed to know was due to a phenomenon I don't understand in which I had…Dreams that told me of events that are very similar to those that have happened here.

"And although I will not tell you who for the same reason I cannot explain fully, I have had someone burn the other notebook. There were only two so far, but I wouldn't be surprised if another one surfaced in the coming years. I have ensured that Kira will not return, and if he does, I'm sure you will figure out who it is. As for the reason I wrote my own name, it was in part because I believe it will prevent your death as well as Watari's, but it is also because I know that what I have done is evil and, as Kira, I have judged myself as well. Although I had chosen a significant day, I still can't help but find that I've caused myself more than enough mental anguish by regaining my memory of it and of what I have done after all this time I spent becoming a trusted member of the Task Force and, worst of all, a friend to the very people I have caused harm to. It would seem that it is as they say, ignorance is bliss." I started to walk away. "Well then, I have some last minute preparations before my efforts bear fruit."

"You do not intend to tell anyone but me any of this?" He asked, stopping me in my tracks.

"I…do not." I answered slowly.

"Why is that?"

"Because…You already knew I was Kira. I don't think I will have enough time to tell them either. Telling only one person is easier."

"But you've chosen me specifically. Why not your father?"

"Because he is my father. And because you are you." I answered vaguely.

"And do you really believe that after all this time I will just allow you to die with that explanation?"

He was starting to get annoying, so I turned around to find the man fairly close, but didn't let it faze me as I glared up at him defiantly. "There is nothing you can do once a name has been written in the Death Note."

"Changing the time of death is not what I was concerned with."

"I can't give you anything else or I risk you dying." I told him with frustration. What did he want from me?

"You told me because I am L, did you not? Because you would still win if you had told L without giving him time to convict you. You would die quietly, taking with you any evidence against you."

My eyes narrowed as they started to water again. "You don't get it, do you? From the beginning, I was never concerned with winning against L. I wanted to meet L and I was certain that by acting according to what I saw before, he would take the actions to make that happen. By misjudging the reason for things, L had come to the conclusion that Kira's intention was to eliminate him. When all along, Kira's goal was to meet L and then die."

"Why go through all the trouble of meeting me that way?"

"Because you never would have come to Japan if I hadn't become Kira. You never would have invited me to join the Task Force. We never would have spent so much time together and became friends unless I were Kira and acted accordingly. When I didn't have any memory of being Kira but started to remember those dreams of the future, I didn't want to believe that that was what was happening. I didn't want to believe that I would end up killing you just because he did. But, I was right about that part. I have taken a different path. I am a different person. And how I felt about you has always been genuine." I froze, hoping that didn't sound to him like how it sounded to me.

The silent staring made me anxious, so I started talking again without really thinking. Even though that's pretty much the opposite of what I would have liked to do.

"But it doesn't matter now. I just wanted to make my confession to you in person. Please don't tell the others until after. I will have prepared a letter for everyone, although I'm sure they won't want to read it when they find out."

"Were you going to burn the notebook you took earlier?" He questioned as I turned to start walking away again.

I paused, smiling slightly. "I'm going to miss that, you know. The fact you can't let anyone have the last word is going to be one of the things I think of if I can even think while I spend eternity in nothingness." I muttered before I rose my tone to answer him. "Yes, I am going to burn it before I die so no one else can use it ever again." I then started walking again.

"I will miss you as well, Light." He said in that quiet tone.

I faltered in my steps with the sudden stabbing pain in my heart from those words, but I turned to look over my shoulder at him, a heartbreakingly genuine smile crossing my face as my mouth moved before I could stop it. "I will be in love with you for eternity, but never even see you again. Is this my real punishment?"

And with that, I stepped onto the elevator and didn't look back to see his reaction. Now I just had to burn the book along with the page that has my name on it and write out that letter before I go to bed at eleven thirty.


	34. Epilogue

_Everyone,_

 _I must apologize for everything I have done. Starting with picking up the Death Note and knowingly using it for my own purposes and ultimately becoming Kira. I must apologize for all of the trouble I have caused all of you. I'm sure you don't want to hear this from me, after I have betrayed you in such a horrible way. Still, I would like to make it clear that killing anyone on the Task Force was never a possibility for me. Even when I could remember who I was. I did kill criminals, and even though it's a little less wrong than killing innocent people, it's still wrong. I realized that before, that is why I have died. I wrote my own name in the Death Note prior to Misa Amane's arrest. I, as Kira, had judged my own crimes. No, that still sounds too much like him. I realized how much more trouble I would cause past the date of November 5th, 2007 if I allowed myself to live. I would prefer that M, M, and N stay safely away from Kira and still be alive two years from now too._

 _Now, there are some things I wish to tell the team, if they would think of me as the Light who had no memory of being Kira and was honestly trying to catch him. If not, then they can just ignore me. I was a liar up until my last day after all. Matsuda, you were the key to catching Higuchi and for that, I will always have great respect for you. Even if the others think it was a screw-up, I believe it was the best way to go about that, screw-up or not. Aizawa, I'm sorry I slacked off enough that you started hating me. I don't think I can really say anything to you that could justify that, but if you want the truth, I use video games to escape from that pressure I've felt from everything everyone expected me to do throughout my life. For a little while, I'm not Light Yagami. Mogi, I know we didn't talk much, but you are a brilliant detective and were always a very important part to the investigation. You have nothing but my respect._

 _Dad, I know you must be more than just disappointed in me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't be a prefect daughter for you when you deserve one so much more than I ever realized before this happened. There's nothing I can say that will make any of this truth sound better. But, I did keep my promise. I have executed Kira. I probably don't say it enough, and I really should have said it in person one last time, but I love you. I love Mom and Sayu too. I won't ask any of you to forgive me. No, it would probably be better if all of you forgot me completely. I don't deserve to live on in anyone's memories. Even if they are hateful memories._

 _Please. I just want everyone to move on and be happy. Without Kira. Without Light Yagami. Because they deserve it. All of you on the Task Force deserve it._

 _Now, L, I've already been honest with you about everything I could, but I would like to ask just one more favour. Don't tell anyone who Kira was. Also… Could you burn everything I own? I want to disappear completely from the world. It would be best if everyone could forget about me quickly and without having reminders around. Of course, I'm including my body in this. I don't care what you do with the ashes. I just don't want there to be any proof I ever existed. It's probably better than what I deserve for doing this, but directing everyone's hate onto just one person, whether they were right or wrong, only cultivates those negative emotions that got everyone into this mess in the first place._

 _Lastly, I would like to apologize for not being able to bring myself to tell everyone face-to-face, but I just didn't have the time. Or rather, the guts. I was a liar and a coward right up until the end. I probably don't have to ask, but…Please make sure nothing like this happens ever again. It was nice to work with you on the case. And it was great to become friends with you, L. No one dies without some regrets, but I think I'll die peacefully. For more than just one reason._

. . .

Sitting in front of the computer screen was a peculiar man crouched on a desk chair, sipping coffee as he stared down at a blue DS sitting closed on the desk. It was worn with use and the L button was a little sticky, due to an incident with extremely sugary coffee, but it still worked just fine. Enough to play the RPG that hadn't left the card slot since the owner last played it. It had belonged to the greatest criminal of all time. One the public had started to forget after two months with no criminals dying. There were rumours that he had been caught and the police were just keeping it a secret, or maybe he had died. The latter was the truth. The criminal, although not male, had committed suicide. Not even the police or governments knew what exactly had happened to Kira. No one but the Kira Investigation Task Force, who hadn't even spoken to each other about it very much after the incident had taken place.

The man sitting at the desk, also known as L, set down his coffee beside the game system and continued to frown at it. He had discovered the game system on the desk after the others had wrapped up at headquarters and could finally go home. Although everything else she had to her name, including her body, had been burned and disposed of, this one object that was near-constant in the last days of her life had remained untouched. Sitting in exactly the same spot she had left it after finishing the game inside.

"I'm sorry, Light. It seems I wasn't able to get rid of everything after all."

...

 **A/N: So, this isn't the happiest story, but I hope you enjoyed reading it anyway. It's pretty much the first story I actually completed, so when I found it just laying around on my computer, I thought I'd at least post it somewhere before deleting the document. Thank you so much for the reviews and support! I'd love to read your final thoughts on this epilogue and hopefully I'll be able to complete another story at some point and be able to post it as well. Until then, I wish you all the best and hope you can forgive the tragic ending here.**


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